The Hero: An **Amazing** Story

Last Saturday I found a voice mail on Dad's phone at home from Officer Gerber of the Murrietta police department, who was on the scene at Dad's accident. He was following up to see how Dad is doing. I returned his call, and learned that a Richard Deboer, a state parks officer in Orange County, had played a crucial role in protecting Dad from further injury. I googled the name and found an e-mail address, and wrote to inquire whether I had found the right person. He gave me permission to post his reply in its entirety:


Yes, you've reached the right person. It is great to hear that your dad is recovering well. It was such a surreal experience seeing your dad's plane crash. I'm so glad that I was there and was in a position to help out. There are a few ironic and interesting coincidences regarding the crash and your dad's broken C2 vertebrae.



I guess I'll recount the incident as it unfolded on that Friday. My wife, Michaele, two twin daughters, Brianna & Kimberly (six years old), were in our mini-van in the Ralph's parking lot. We were out running some errands during the holiday season. We had just left the cleaners and were driving in the parking lot North by the gas station when I saw a red plane very low overhead, with no propeller spinning (fixed wood propeller), bank and turn left over the Washington/Nutmeg intersection. The plane straightened out and landed hard in an open dirt field. The plane hit the deck hard once and flipped over. I immediately turned our vehicle around to drive to the crash site. To exit the parking lot and get onto Washington you had to go out of the lot from the opposite direction. At that moment there was a Murrieta City Fire Engine in the lot right in front of us. Their lights and siren went on and I followed them out of the parking lot. At that time I was thinking we'll go see how it comes out and watch the Firefighter's do their job. Well, we were a ways back from the fire engine on Washington because we had to wait for the light to turn green. The engine turned right up Nutmeg and then kept going straight up Nutmeg and out of site. I was saying to my wife, "Where are they going - the plane is right here." After the fact, the only thing I could think of is the fire engine received a call at the exact moment of the crash and drove off to another incident.



I parked on the shoulder of the road on Nutmeg and told my wife and kids I was going to see if the pilot was OK. I ran a ways across the open field to the plane. Mr. Hein was already out of the plane. I asked him if he was OK. Mr. Hein said, "I think so." I had him sit down on the wing right behind the position he was standing in. I asked Mr. Hein if he was hurt anywhere. He said that his neck was hurting him. My first instincts were to get him a safe distance from the plane and into c-spine precautions. I told Mr. Hein to move very slowly and guided him away from the plane. I stabilized his head and neck and assisted him to the sitting position. Then, while still keeping him in c-spine precaution lowered him to the ground on his back. When he was stabilized on the ground he was complaining of nausea and dizziness. I should mention that he had one other major concern. He said, “Gosh dang it.” He used the other word though, can’t blame him. I asked what was wrong, he said, “My plane!”



I asked him what his name was. He told me, "Dick Hein." I said, "Well, nice to meet you Dick, my name is Dick, too." I told Dick that I was an off-duty Lifeguard / Peace Officer and an EMT. I told Dick that he needed to lay very still and not move and the Fire Department Paramedics would be here soon to help out. I kept reassuring Dick that everything was going be OK and reminded him not to move. Another gentleman on scene had some experience with planes and crawled in the plane to shut off the fuel as well as disable the flight antenna. The Murrieta Fire Department Paramedics arrived shortly thereafter and took over treatment of Mr. Hein. They put a c-collar on Dick’s neck and packaged him on a backboard, monitored his vitals and transported to the hospital. I gave Officer Gerber my personal information and went back to my family.



It wasn't until a couple of weeks later that Officer Gerber called and asked me if I had heard the outcome of Mr. Hein’s ordeal. I was very interested because in the back of my mind I wondered if Dick was OK. Officer Gerber advised me that when Mr. Hein arrived at the hospital they found that he had broken his neck and was in surgery shortly thereafter. It was good to hear that Dick's surgery was successful and he is recovering. Other that the irony of Mr. Hein and I having the same first given name of Richard and going by "Dick," I too had broken my C2 vertebra in an accident back in 1992 and came out of it with a full recovery.



I was honored to hear that on February 5th, 2008 at the Murrieta City Counsel Meeting Chief Wright of the Murrieta City Police Department and the Murrieta City Counsel would like to recognize me for my actions that day. I have been a Lifeguard / Peace Officer for CA State Parks for 25 years and currently work as the Lifeguard Supervisor at Doheny State Beach in Dana Point. Having made public safety my life, it is nice to hear that my actions, training and skills helped in the chain of life saving along with the Murrieta City Fire Department and the Hospital Doctors. Anyway, I'm sure glad your dad's recovery is going well and I was very fortunate to be at the right place at the right time and have the necessary training to help out.



I’ll keep track of your dad’s progress from the blog. Let your dad know I said Hello and that I was thinking about him. Thanks for getting in touch with me, take care.