Honorees

← Back to directory

Year Honored
1997
Honoree
Brian P Shaw
Agency
Mercy Flight Central Inc
Agency City
Canandaigua
Agency State
NY
Last Call
12/12/96
Cause of Death
Medical Aviation Accident
Biography
Elaine Livecchi, an EMT with National Ambulance, remembers 29-year old Brian Shaw as an excellent paramedic. "If you were dying, you'd want him to work on you. He helped me study for EMT and ever since then we've been friends. I know him as a person and a friend. He's wonderful, I can't say enough about him." Paramedic Brian Shaw was killed December 12, 1996 when the Mercy Flight helicopter he was in crashed.<br /> <br /> The Canandaigua-based aircraft had flown into the wooded hills of Yates County to assist a wounded hunter who had fallen from his 30-foot-high perch in a tree. Paramedic Brian Shaw and chief pilot, Jeff Burt, had been able to locate the hunter, land and place him on board the helicopter. A Branchport volunteer firefighter said he saw the helicopter take off, then suddenly plunge straight back down several hundred feet, coming to earth with a "bigglow" from the flames. Brian Shaw, Jeff Burt and the hunter died in the crash. High wind and weather were suspected causes.<br /> <br /> Throughout that night, EMT technicians from all around the area flocked to the Mercy Flight hanger to stay with grieving friends of the fatally injured medic and pilot."It's just been one long nightmare," said Bill Bross, Mercy Flight's director of development. Mercy Flight Central is a nonprofit emergency air transport service assisting seriously injured accident victims and medical transfers for the Finger Lakes Region.<br /> <br /> Brian was a graduate of Monroe Community College's Paramedic program. He had been with Mercy Flight Central for two years and was active with Gates Ambulance and the Barnard Fire Department.<br /> <br /> Honored 1997