Ed Malcom had a couple of tears in his eyes when the Mercy medical helicopter landed for the first time at the new White Rock helicopter pad on Saturday morning.
Malcom said his wife, Sharon, is the one who kept him going to help make the new helicopter pad a reality.
White Rock Fire Department Fire Chief Joe Lahr thanked many people for keeping focused and working hard on the pad, located near White Rock's Station No. 2.
Lahr also thanked Malcom -- who was inspired by Sharon -- to move the project forward. He also thanked Sharon, who was on hand.
Officials said the dream started about 12 or 13 years ago. The crew faced many obstacles, including clearing the land which featured numerous pine trees. Crews had to burn off brambles and haul off stumps.
The all-volunteer crew also had to raise enough money to build the pad. The community stepped up and donated to the cause. More money was raised through an annual fundraiser. One hundred percent of the funds came from the community.
Hard work ensued, and Malcom in particular, worked diligently on building lights for the pad.
"There were many times I wanted to give up, but my wife said, 'You have to finish this.'"
On Saturday morning many people gathered to anxiously glance into a crystal blue sky to watch Mercy pilot Max Timmons successfully land the helicopter on the new landing pad.
Lahr said the landing pad will expedite getting patients to the hospital and eliminate the need for crews to transport heavy equipment on a run.
"This is going to be an asset," Lahr said.
Fire Department Board Chairman Dan Moore said he's proud of the community and the crew who pulled together to make the landing pad happen.
"I'm proud to do this as a team," he said. "We can save more lives. We are 25 miles from the hospital. We can get them there quicker."
After crew members officially cut the ribbon and dedicated the site, state Rep. Bill Lant told the crowd that he was "extremely proud" to be a resident of the county. He said the crew is "getting things done every day" and that "their hearts are in the right place."
Lahr said the area of the county serviced by Station No. 2 experiences a great number of vehicle accidents, medical runs and unfortunately, has had some suicides or suicide attempts.
Helicopter crews from Mercy and Freeman Health System have used the land at the Nazarene Church in emergencies, and have done so on several Sunday mornings.
The new landing pad, however, is marked off by green lighting on the boundaries, a red bullet for the center landing spot and yellow lights for an approaching helicopter.
Large balls are located on power lines near the landing site, which help the pilot navigate around those obstacles.
Timmons, who has 38 years of flying, said the new pad worked great.
"It's a really nice landing," he said.
Timmons had 20 years of active duty in the service, completing two tours in Iraq. When he retired from the Army after 32 years of service, it seemed a natural transition to fly patients.
Mercy is called quite a bit to this area, he said. The new landing is really well-lit and provides a safe area on which a pilot can land easily. He's had to land in several situations where there was no official landing pad, which he described as "not as comforting" and dealing with a lot of unknowns.
To have a new one with lighting provides the pilot additional safety measures in an emergency situation, he said.
General News on 07/20/2017