What started as a health check for some families in western North Carolina turned into a multi-day search and rescue mission for volunteer helicopter pilot Zeb Hadley.
Hadley, a private helicopter owner and CEO of Raleigh-based commercial and industrial coatings company National Coatings, was an 11-year-old born prematurely just before Hurricane Helen hit the Appalachian region. Successfully saved the baby.
“I actually got a text message from Deputy Mark Robinson saying, 'Hey Zeb, I know you have a helicopter. Please stop by Franklin County and talk to the Sheriff's Department and Kevin White. Can you give me one?’ The sheriff asked how he could help with the mission in McDowell County. Then we started doing a little search and rescue ourselves because we knew how bad the situation was. ' explained Hadley.
Hadley was in the area for seven days and flew the helicopter for about 60 hours. He added that he typically travels about 100 miles a year by helicopter for work.
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Zeb Hadley, a private helicopter owner and CEO of Raleigh-based commercial and industrial coatings company National Coatings, was born prematurely just before Hurricane Helen hit the Appalachian region. They succeeded in saving an 11-day-old baby. (Zeb Hadley)
“So we did seven months' worth of flights in seven days,” Hadley said.
On September 30th, three days after the worst of the incident occurred in Helen in the early morning hours of September 27th, Hadley, Jonathan Howard of the Florida National Guard, and Charlie Keebaugh of Aerial Recovery Inc. , was dispatched on a rescue mission. The one-year-old baby was “in a life-or-death situation.”
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On September 30th, three days after the worst of the incident occurred in Helen in the early morning hours of September 27th, Hadley, Jonathan Howard of the Florida National Guard, and Charlie Keebaugh of Aerial Recovery Inc. , was dispatched on a rescue mission. The one-year-old baby was “in a life-or-death situation.” (Zeb Hadley)
They were immediately dispatched by helicopter to the baby's location, where paramedics “stabilized the baby with oxygen.”
“The baby was blue.”
“When we landed, we found out that the baby was not yet a year old. Then we found out that the baby was 11 days old, premature, and had only come home four days ago,” Hadley said. Ta. “The baby was blue. Thank God everything went well.”
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The three then rushed the baby to Mission Hospital and landed on the roof, ultimately saving the 11-day-old child's life.
“That was actually our first rescue mission,” Hadley recalled.
When they rescued the baby, Hadley and other volunteers learned that the baby was 11 days old. (Zeb Hadley)
He also rescued a family living in a difficult-to-reach area at Bent Creek in the North Carolina Mountains.
“Jonathan Howard found SOS in the mud and as we got closer we saw SOS written in blue and white spray paint on the concrete,” Hadley said. “We landed there, dropped some supplies, rescued an 87-year-old woman who probably had about another day of oxygen left, and got her out of there with her two children and her dog. We checked on them about four days later.
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Hadley and two others, Jonathan Howard of the Florida National Guard and Charlie Keebaugh of Aerial Recovery, noticed an “SOS” sign spray-painted on the pavement in the mud. (Zeb Hadley)
Hadley recalled seeing New York State Police in riot gear hiking through the Bent Creek area around the same time, attempting to remove debris from the roadway to make way for four-wheelers. . Hadley said the hike took nearly four hours, but the four-wheeler could cover the paved road in about 25 minutes.
The CEO of National Coatings said he never expected to be part of a search and rescue team, but after Helen he saw a clear need he couldn't turn his back on.
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The CEO of National Coatings said he never expected to be part of a search and rescue team, but after Helen he saw a clear need he couldn't turn his back on. (Zeb Hadley)
“We have assessed the road and it could be six months to a year before the road is energized. And some of the bridges are both wooden and concrete and steel structures. , it's still in the river in front of the bridge, “their home,'' Hadley said. “I could smell rotting meat. I don't know if it was a human, a cow or a pet, but I know the area. … It's a different experience than a hurricane on the coast.”
Hadley added that the experience of helping others and helping other volunteers donate time, services and supplies to those in need “restored my faith in humanity.”
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“I think there's a big divide in our country, especially right now in election season, where there's a lot of people who are like, 'I'm a Democrat, I'm a Republican, I'm this, I'm that.' And for me, This didn't bother people. People from New York, from Missouri, from California, from Louisiana, no one raised their hands or moved their pallets. .”
Hurricane Helen left more than 250 people dead, with more than 90 in North Carolina. More than 20 people remain missing in the Tarheel State.
