"When we fly our next mission, the one after that and the ones we will fly for years to come,we get to fly with angels." A line from the song "Angel" by Sarah McLachlan had been introduced to his father the day that he died.<br />
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Bart Bradshaw, 31, was killed when the Life Flight helicopter he was piloting crashed in a wooded area of Worth County, Georgia. The crew was on their return trip to Sylvester from St. Joseph's Hospital in Savannah, where earlier they had delivered a critically ill patient from Coffee County Hospital. Bart, along with two team members, perished in the Life Flight accident on July 24, 2000.<br />
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Mr. Bradshaw was a civilian-trained helicopter pilot with more than ten years of experience. He was a certified flight instructor who also held a private fixed-wing certificate with instrument endorsements. Bart had moved his family to Florida in May to accept a pilot position with the Southwest Georgia Life Flight Service, which had formed a month earlier.<br />
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Bart was a huge NASCAR fan and a Christian. "He was a family man and a talented pilot," said a friend. He could be found with other crew families working together, enjoying each other's children, and always on the hunt for a good barbecue. As a lone helicopter thundered over at the end of the ceremony, Bart's mother stated, "He died doing the work he loved to do."<br />
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His wife Debra, their two children Austin and Madisen, his parents Wayne and Susan Bradshaw, and a brother Bradford, survive James Barton Bradshaw.<br />
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Honored 2001 |