Charity Group Raises Big Money For Eagle Med Crash Survivor

A national charity is helping the family of a man who was severely injured after his medical helicopter went down in Oklahoma City back in February 2013.

It was a cold winter morning on Feb. 22, 2013. Billy Wynne was a medic, en route to a call of cardiac arrest just before 6 a.m. when the medical helicopter he was in fell out of the sky and burst into flames.

The chopper came down like a rock in between two buildings near Northwest Expressway and Council Rd. in Oklahoma City. Nursing home employees nearby, who were undergoing a shift change at the time, rushed to the wreckage to douse the blaze and rescue any survivors.

Pilot Mark Montgomery and nurse Chris Denning were killed on impact, but Wynne was pulled from the wreckage. He was still alive, but badly burned and had many broken bones.

Wynne's road to recovery has been long and extremely difficult. He had broken his back, had his left leg amputated at the knee and lost all of his fingers on his left hand. And though his path has been arduous, his only wish was to be able to recover well enough to help his wife, who was with him every step of the way.

Read Billy Wynne's article on The Chive.

theChive's Chive Charities answered the call to action. The group's goal was to get Wynne a brand new 2014 Toyota FJ Cruiser. With Wynne's injuries, the vehicle would need to be modified so he could accelerate and brake using his hands.

The estimated total cost of the modified SUV was $37,000, so that was the goal Chive Charities set on their GoFundMe website, a site that allows the public to donate money for different causes.  

The Chive community is a tightly knit one. And "Chivers" and "Chivettes" alike came out of the woodwork to help the Wynne family. The original goal of $37k was met and surpassed in less than an hour. And in just five hours' time the group had raised over $100,000!

"We are truly blown away by the generosity of all you chivers and chivettes," Wynne posted on GoFundMe. "Unbelievable! My family and I are so grateful for you all!"

In addition to the monies raised on GoFundMe, theChive provided the family with an $85,000 grant for a customized hydrotherapy pool, to help Wynne continue on his path to recovery.

If you would like to donate, visit the Wynne family's GoFundMe page.