The remains of a big-eyed brown-and-white puppy named Lisa who died in a plane crash in New York's Catskill Mountains last week were delivered Sunday to the family of an animal rescue pilot who died trying to give the dog a chance. With something new.
Leah Kim, 16, the daughter of volunteer pilot Seok Kim, 49, said the family will carry out the memorial flight as a way to complete her father's mission with the rescue organization Pilot and Paws and ensure Lisa's safety. He said he came up with the idea. There was a house.
“We all sat down and talked about what we wanted to do with his ashes, and we were given the option of having Lisa's ashes brought to us and if she was there, we would all… “I decided that I was going to feel a lot better,” Kim said in a phone interview from Springfield, Virginia.
“He clearly cared about her enough to risk his life on an expedition to save her, and we just want to make sure she's taken care of,” she said. Ta. “We feel a responsibility to continue what he started.”
Kim Seok left Maryland on November 24th on a mission with the rescue group Pilot and Paws, and was on his way to Albany, New York.
He was carrying Lisa and two other small dogs when his 1986 single-engine Mooney M20J crashed in unknown conditions in the snowy mountains of southeastern New York. Kim and Lisa were killed, but the other two puppies survived.
On Sunday, Chris Moon, a friend and volunteer pilot with Pilot and Paws, flew to Albany to pick up Lisa's remains and return them to Kim's family in Virginia.
Leah Kim said she will likely bury Lisa's ashes in her backyard, along with those of her family's beloved miniature poodle.
“Just having Lisa around makes us all feel safe,” she said.
Her father's funeral is scheduled for Thursday.
Seok Kim, from South Korea, had a childhood dream of becoming a pilot. After getting his pilot's license four years ago, he began transporting dogs and cats from disaster areas and crowded evacuation centers on behalf of rescue groups, his daughter said.
She said he picked up animals for several organizations several times a week and often talked about the orphaned dogs and cats he rescued.
“He was always a big fan of animals. They were one of his passions,” Leah Kim said.
Penny Edwards, transportation coordinator for the organization Forever Changed Animal Rescue, called Kim an “incredible person” and said the organization donated supplies to victims of Hurricane Helen in North Carolina this fall. I believe that Mr. Kim was the driving force behind the organization that delivered this.
“It's truly amazing how many lives he touched and impacted during his flight,” she said. “He wasn't just rescuing animals. He was really involved in the community.”
