US, February 4, 2025 (Punjab Khabarnama Bureau): A 10-year-old boy reportedly protected his little sister during the Philadelphia plane crash last week. Andre Howard is now recovering from being impaled in the head by a piece of metal from the jet that crashed, his family has said.
The Mexico-bound air ambulance crashed near Roosevelt Boulevard and Cottman Avenue when Howard, his father and two siblings were in the car getting doughnuts. The crash killed seven people and injured many others.
‘They told us my son wasn’t supposed to make it’
“Heard what we thought was a car crash, but then you see a fury of fire in the air, then a bunch of debris shooting everywhere,” the child’s father, also named Andre Howard, told ABC 6 Action News.
“My son … tells his little sister, ‘Get down!’” he added. “And he grabs her [as] I hear the glass shatter. I turn around, there’s a piece of metal sticking out of my son’s head from the plane.”
Little Howard was saved by a good Samaritan, who raced over and took the shirt off his back, and then put pressure on Howard’s head. The boy was taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital by a city cop, where an operation was immediately carried out by doctors.
“They told us my son wasn’t supposed to make it,” the elder Howard said. “They also told us, ‘They don’t do children trauma.’ But they did for us, which was nothing but God.”
The boy’s mother, Lashawn Hamiel, told the outlet that it was very difficult to see her child like that. “As a mother what am I supposed to do?” she said. “But he’s good. He’s pushing through. He’s strong, he’s a jokester, but he’s strong. He’s a superhero.”
The boy’s father echoed the mom’s thoughts, saying, “To face death yesterday and speaking today, stepping up for his little sister, like I train him and his other little brothers to do off of instinct — he’s my hero.”
The Learjet 55’s crash killed seven people – Valentina Guzman Murillo, 11; her mother, Lizeth Murillo Ozuna, 31; Capt. Alan Alejandro Montoya Perales; co-pilot Josue de Jesus Juarez Juarez; Dr. Raul Meza Arredondo; paramedic Rodrigo Lopez Padilla; and a bystander on the ground. 22 other people were wounded.
Summary: A heroic 10-year-old boy saved his sister’s life in a Philly jet crash, narrowly escaping death himself, with many calling him a “superhero.”