It got foggy all of a sudden.
We flew into the clouds. It was pure whiteout.
You trust the experience of the pilots
to make the right decision.
Don: I knew that it wasn't good.
"You know, we wanted an Alaskan adventure.
Well, we're getting it."
Just white clouds,
and then the mountain just came into view.
The airplane was headed right for a mountain.
Pull up!
Don: We had seconds before impact.
You're definitely looking at death.
It's right there.
I mean, you know it's in front of you.
This is it. This is how it ends.
Sync & Correct by laulau www.Addic7ed.Com
[Bird calling]
Johnson: I've been doing this a long time... 17 years now.
What made this so unique for me
after doing this for so many years,
looking at the wreckage,
and looking at the documents that we have from this accident,
it still amazes me that there were, in fact, survivors.
I've seen airplanes that have had less damage
and unfortunately everybody had perished.
One entire family survived an ordeal like this.
It's pretty miraculous.
Why did we survive
and why didn't someone else deserve to survive?
How do you ever explain that?
How do you ever try to justify that?
I think that's where we get stuck sometimes
is we try to make sense out of things
that are so much bigger than ourselves.
Rosie: Your life has changed,
and your body has changed, you know,
but every day, I just know that I wake up,
and I thank God, and I try to live my life
and live it to the fullest
for those that did not make it that day.
Johnson: It's definitely a survival story that needs to be told
and there's a lot to be learned from it.
From late November 2005 to mid-December 2006,
I served with the United States army, 4th infantry division,
in and around Baghdad.
It was the deadliest time in Iraq to date.
McKenzie: My dad was in the military.
I was nervous that he wouldn't come back.
[Explosions]
I don't think anybody goes into any combat theater
and doesn't come back, you know,
some type of a... of a different person.
My dad came back from the military
and told us that we're moving to Alaska.
Don: I don't think there was a better place
that I could've gone after Iraq than Alaska.
Not bad.
Donnie, you gonna come help with dinner?
Donnie: Coming.
It's hard to come back to society
and, you know, the modern society that we live in,
if that makes any kind of sense.
Alaska was a place where it was just raw, unfiltered,
and it was a place just to go and live
and a place that you know, I understood.
Don: All right, buddy.
You're gonna learn how to fillet a fish today.
Back in here to the spine.
Him and our son had drove from Texas to Alaska.
Don: We were driving through, you know,
just these beautiful parts of the country,
and I was with... I was with my boy
who I haven't seen in a year,
you know, and while driving through Alaska,
I mean, it was... it was surreal.
Rosie: His father had just gotten back from Iraq,
and so, they had a trip of a lifetime.
It was crazy, but, you know, they had a lot of memories,
you know, life-lasting memories.
And it was just spending time with my son and things.
This is... I started to realize that this is what I wanted.
I just wanted to, you know,
just wanted to spend time with my boy.
Donnie: I loved it in Alaska.
I got to be outdoors every day with my friends or my family.
That's my favorite thing to do is be outside.
It just became a thing where it's so common to say,
"all right, let's go fishing."
Like, we would have fish almost every night.
It was fun for me.
And then the reality starts to set in, that, "wow,
"we don't have employment, we don't have a job.
Now what are we gonna do?"
Rosie: Obviously we needed income.
I had always wanted to be a teacher
and, you know, don is really good with kids.
And so, it was like, "all right, let's go to school together
and, you know, we can make it work."
Financially the struggle was... was pretty enormous.
I mean, especially during our student teaching,
neither one of us were allowed to work.
In 2011, I was the superintendent
of the Iditarod Area School District,
and we ended up hiring them
to share the upper elementary position in Anvik.
Where we were offered a job,
it was... it was... it was the village of Anvik,
which is a small Athabascan Indian community,
right on the Yukon river.
Rosie: We were moving to a village of 80 to 90 people.
For us, it just, we... we thought we could learn something
and we thought, maybe at the same time,
we could bring something to them.
Ladegard: Every year we have a teacher in-service.
All of the teachers are brought into McGrath
for four days of teacher training.
Don: So we had to fly from our village of Anvik
to the town of McGrath.
Did you mean to leave this?
We don't need it.
What do you mean we don't need it?
I mean we don't need it.
We would carry these little emergency kits.
You know, as a guy, I don't need it.
You know, I don't want to be showing up with this pack
and looking, I guess, like this newbie.
What are you reading?
Aquaponics, growing veggies and raising fish.
Like a little ecosystem.
- You think it'd be good for science class? - Mm-hmm.
I need a few more supplies in McGrath.
Don't stay up too late.
Ooh and put the books by the suitcases
- so we don't forget them. Okay? - Yep.
Ladegard: The villages are small.
And each is isolated from the other,
so the only way to get to any of our villages
is by airplane.
The Alaskan back-country is referred to the bush,
and it's basically anything that's off the road system.
It's either boat or plane accessible.
Hey. Oh, it's great to see you guys.
It's great to see you, too.
Can I take anything?
No, no, we're good.
Thanks for coming out to get us.
Well, how was the flight?
Great. Saw a beautiful wolf on our way here.
We went to McGrath for teacher conference,
because my parents were going to be teachers.
[Indistinct conversations]
There was this teacher who made quilts with me and Donnie.
She let us choose a pattern, front and back,
and she taught us how to sew it.
Girl: I'm getting good at this.
Woman: Keep going, keep going.
Pull it all the way until it's tight.
It didn't really have a meaning at that time.
The short week that we were out there,
they were already receiving skills, you know, life skills,
and, you know, sewing and just, you know, prepping fish.
It was a very quick introduction
to, you know, the Alaska lifestyle and it was amazing.
Our in-service is complete,
and we're ready to fly from McGrath, Alaska,
back to Anvik and, um, we were just waiting on the weather
to clear up a little bit.
It pretty much went on for a few hours
just waiting for a window of opportunity to go.
Our bags were packed. We were just on standby ready to go.
So, we finally got the call from the pilot,
saying we had a clear window to fly,
everyone meet up on the airstrip.
And we loaded our bags and, um,
there was actually two planes that landed on the airstrip,
and we could've walked on to either one of the planes,
and we happened to walk on to the plane that we did.
Thank you so much for everything, Karen.
Oh, it was wonderful.
It was great. You take care of yourself.
Okay? All right. You get home. Be safe.
Ladegard: I wished the teachers good luck,
gave them hugs and told them I would be seeing them soon,
because I was planning on traveling to Anvik
within the next couple of weeks.
You guys say hi to Ernie?
Donnie: Hi, Ernie. McKenzie: Hey, Ernie.
He's gonna be our pilot today.
We were introduced to our pilot, Ernie,
and I remember thinking to myself, "oh... "
I remember feeling really comfortable
because there was something about him
that reminded me of my father.
So I was like, "oh, wow, okay, this is good."
I didn't have any reservations.
I was just ready to get back home,
so I just got on the plane
thinking everything was gonna go okay.
Rosie: We chose to get on.
I could've easily said, you know,
"listen, the weather's been iffy the past two days.
"You had a break for a little while, you know,
"I'm not getting on that plane,
there's no way I feel comfortable."
But we didn't really think about it.
It wasn't something that I don't think
they really thought about it that much,
and I know I surely didn't. It was like, "oh, okay,
there's a break in the weather, let's go."
I had that choice to get on that plane
and, you know, as an adult, I made that decision.
I easily could have declined.
There's always this little worry in the back of your mind.
But, um... you trust the experience of the pilots
to make the right decision.
Slow down.
Don: We had some suspicions
that Rosemarie might be pregnant.
We were able to go to the general store in McGrath
where they, you know, they sell milk, and they sell fruit.
Rosemarie purchased a pregnancy test,
which confirmed, you know, she was pregnant.
Can we get these?
Choose one.
Let's go.
All right. Everyone on the couch.
Donnie! Hey, let me see that quilt.
Did you buy this at the store?
Yes.
Oh, did you?
I made it.
I like it.
Are you the craftiest little girl I've ever met?
[Giggling]
All right. Your mom and I have something to tell you.
We are going to have a baby.
Aah!
I was excited, because I thought
I was going to have another baby sister.
- Are you excited? - Yeah.
- You want a boy or girl? - Girl.
No. You don't like your brother?
No. [Laughs]
When my husband and I found out that we were pregnant,
it was a mixed emotions.
I mean, secretly, I was very excited, I was thrilled.
But, at the same time,
we had just accepted a position, you know, as teachers
that I... what I had wanted for years,
and so, it was a little nerve-racking thinking
how am I gonna tell, you know, the school district
that now I'm pregnant,
and we haven't even really officially started.
Regardless, you know, we were excited,
and, you know, we told our children, who were also excited,
and we decided to, at dinner,
you know, inform the superintendent.
Yeah, we've only been there one summer,
but it's already starting to feel like home.
And the kids are on board?
They are. They're really excited.
A little bit more excited tonight
because we had a bit of a surprise.
I'm pregnant.
[Laughs] Congratulations.
Oh, that's fantastic news.
And, you know, we were hoping, you know, for a good reaction,
and it... and it was, I mean, they were very, very receptive
and willing to accommodate us.
And, yeah, it was terrific.
Because of the job?
Yeah, but really it's not going to affect anything.
Don can work full time until I come back.
Don't be silly. I'm not worried about a thing.
I'm thrilled for you.
Don: The next morning came.
Our in-service is complete,
and we're ready to fly back to Anvik from McGrath.
We took 10 people to the airport.
Five of them were teachers who were destined for Grayling.
And the other five were going to the village of Anvik.
We went to the airstrip to get on the plane.
We, you know, were all excited finally to be going back,
you know, to our village to get ready.
So what's that called again?
Aquaponics system, like a mini ecosystem.
Aquaponics system. Right.
Is that what the water is for? There's a fish in there.
Speeds up the cycle process.
Want to use it for a science project.
Ladegard: The Grayling teachers got on one airplane,
and the Anvik teachers got on the other airplane.
On the plane that the Evans were on,
was the pilot, don and Rosemary Evans...
You take care of yourself, okay?
Their two children, Donnie and McKenzie...
All right. Goodbye. We'll talk soon.
You're wonderful. You're gonna do great.
And Julia Walker,
who's been teaching in Anvik for many years.
She's born and raised in Anvik.
Don: When we got in the plane, you know, I was, you know,
I was in the co-pilot seat,
and so I was just, you know, checking my surroundings,
and I noticed on the... the pilot's visor
that he had a spot satellite messenger.
It's a GPS device, and I was like,
"oh, you know, that's great to know,"
because I carried them often
when my son and I would go rafting.
We noticed that when we first got on the plane and thought,
"oh, okay, good, that's good to know. We know what that is.
We know how to use it."
And my husband had used it once actually in the past
and accidentally sent a message to his mom of emergency.
Don: The back-country of Alaska,
it's hard for most people
to really grasp the reality of it,
that there's nothing out there.
You're hundreds and hundreds of Miles away
from... from civilization, you know,
and there's nothing to rely on but yourself,
and, you know, if an emergency happens, that's your lifeline.
You can go ahead and put on your seat belt.
The pilot had noticed that I didn't have my seat belt on,
so he's like, "no, go ahead
and, you know, get your seat belt on."
So, I was like, "all right," you know, so, we got buckled up,
and we were ready to go.
And right before we took off,
the... the pilot... he looked at me and he said...
Pray holy thoughts.
And I-I kind of laughed and I was like, you know, to myself,
and I was like, you know, that's funny,
that's the last thing I want to hear my pilot say is,
"pray holy thoughts."
God protect us on this flight.
That flight was supposed to be about an hour and a half long.
And very routine, you know,
to travel from McGrath to those villages.
Shortly after the plane took off, I fell asleep.
It wasn't my first time on a bush plane
'cause the first time was going to the village
we were going to live in.
The whole terrain is nothing but valleys and mountains,
so, you know, and... and that's the thing,
you know, that's why... I mean these pilots, I mean,
they're super skilled to be flying through this terrain
and, you know, they are some of the best pilots in the world.
Shortly after taking off, I was really, really sick.
I, you know, was pregnant, and so, I was so, so nauseous.
And Julia helped me. She...
it was funny, because she's like, "oh, if you...
if you want... oh, above your head, there's a vomit bag."
And now you have to picture,
you're in this small, little plane,
and it's, you know, not, um, not at all fancy.
It's, you know, it's what you need.
And so, I kind of laughed, like a vomit bag.
"In this little plane, there's a vomit bag?"
She's like, "oh, yeah. Look, you know, above the visor,
and you have your whole little kit."
And, sure enough, I got my bag.
[Retching]
Are you going to be okay?
Okay?
Okay.
I kind of just sat back a little bit, closed my eyes
and tried to just zone off a little bit.
I was just sitting in the plane,
thinking that we were going to my village.
We saw two wolves down on the ground,
and I remember after that,
it got foggy all... all of a sudden.
We flew into the clouds. It was pure whiteout.
Just you know, white clouds, gray clouds, around us,
couldn't see anything.
You know, we... we flew in these conditions
for a few minutes while the pilot was,
you know, he was going up and down
just trying to get a... a visual.
While we're flying, I'm looking out the window,
and the only thing I couldn't even...
I could not see the propellers in front of me.
I mean, it was... that's how foggy it was.
You couldn't see the nose of the aircraft.
I could tell, like I just felt, I mean,
you... you feel that there was a tension
that filled the plane.
I mean, I knew that it wasn't good.
I was tense, and I mean, it's scary, when you're...
I don't know, when you're flying over 100 Miles an hour
through Alaska terrain and you're...
it's a whiteout condition.
It definitely has you on edge, you know?
And I was like, "okay, you know, this is...
"you know, we wanted an Alaskan adventure,
well, we're getting it."
So a part of me was like, "all right, just, you know, chill,
let this guy, you know, do his thing."
And when he clearly got nervous,
I knew that, you know, it wasn't good.
Babe, it looks like we're going to be headed back.
The fog's pretty thick.
Okay.
Don: You know, kind of like, you know, for a cue for him
to be like, "oh, hey, I'm good
if you want to turn around," you know.
You could see the weather was starting to get bad,
and it was starting to get bad fast.
And I wasn't really nervous.
I knew that Ernie, you know, was an experienced pilot,
and he knew the terrain, and he knew the route well.
You know, it's something he had done for years.
And so I was, like, "okay."
You know, um, you know, and I just kind of laid back
and thought, "okay, we're gonna turn around."
Don: We were getting ready to turn back around.
He must've saw something out of his left
'cause he banked, like, real hard to the right.
And, immediately within, you know,
I mean, as soon as we banked, that mountain came into view.
It was so quick that you, like, that when I saw it,
I didn't even know what to say.
We saw the mountain,
and it was like the mountain was right there in front of us.
Don: So when the clouds open up,
the only thing that I saw was, I saw green and rock.
That's what filled the windshield.
I didn't see the sky around me.
I... the only thing I was looking at
when the clouds broke was...
I knew we were flying into a mountain.
Don: I'm looking out the window,
and I could not see the propellers.
The mountain just came into view.
Pull up!
We had seconds before impact.
We both grabbed the steering wheel.
I mean, he clearly put everything he had
into trying to pull, and he pulled up, extremely hard,
and it was at that time that the plane lifted up
just a little bit, and, you know, him...
him doing that, though, like I know that...
I know that that's why I'm sitting here now.
It's amazing how quick our brains work,
how much we can process within that short amount of time.
You know, just simply to say, you know,
"God, please protect my family."
You're definitely looking at death.
It's right there.
I mean, you know it's front of you.
This is it. This is... this is how it ends.
[Planes crashes]
[Bird calling]
When I wake up, I'm still buckled in.
You know, I remember just looking around,
just trying, you know, to take it all in,
and the ceiling is... is crumpled.
The entire plane is just, it was crumpled.
I was sitting there, and my ears were ringing.
The left side of my face was all broken
from around the eye socket down.
I lost some teeth.
Around this whole area was just kind of broken up.
I knew I was injured
because I couldn't move around freely.
You are... you were happy when other things were moving,
so you were like, "okay, I'm not paralyzed."
So you're able to move your arms,
you're able to move... I mean, I was still able to move,
so that I knew my injuries weren't at the time,
they weren't immediately life-threatening.
And I look to my left, and I know that Ernie,
as soon as, I mean, I knew right away,
that he wasn't with us anymore.
Rosie. [Coughs]
I thought my wife had passed.
Her body was completely lifeless.
There was just no signs of life whatsoever.
During this time, you know, I don't know where my kids are,
I don't hear anything, I can't really...
I don't see them in the plane.
I thought I was the only one that made it.
Why didn't I go? I mean, why, you know?
From everything that I've witnessed,
the very first thing that we do in a tragedy,
the first thing you do is show anger towards God.
I-I don't care whatever your religion preferences are,
it seems to be human instinct,
and that's the first thing we do,
and that was my first reaction.
You just have that feeling of,
"you take my wife, and you took my kids,"
and it just... you have that survivor's guilt,
I guess, right away.
McKenzie: When I woke up, I remember I could see the plane,
and the front of the plane was, like, right there,
and I remember just looking over
and seeing how the windows were smashed.
I didn't see anyone else,
so it was, like, really scary for me
'cause it kind of felt like I was, like, by myself.
McKenzie: Daddy! McKenzie!
Don: I heard whimpering and a painful cry.
Daddy! McKenzie!
I knew that it was my baby girl.
Daddy, where are you?
I cut my belt off,
and I was able to crawl to the back of the plane
to where I was able to just crawl after her.
It's not, "oh, I fell down and got hurt" cry.
This is a "I'm dying" cry.
This is a wounded animal like, this is a...
that kind of cry, you know.
And, as much as I didn't want to hear that, at the same time,
you have this, my baby, she's here, you know,
and that... that immediately fuels a strength
that I can't even... can't...
man, I can't put it into words.
It's just your baby, you know, she's hurt,
and you have to do something.
You have to do something.
Daddy!
I started yelling for my dad.
And I just started screaming over and over.
Daddy! Where are you?!
Daddy!
[Grunts] McKenzie!
I remember my dad kept screaming my name,
but he couldn't find me.
Daddy's coming!
Don: It's just this adrenalin rush.
I crawled over everybody.
It might have taken me an hour, a half-hour,
I don't... I don't know how long it really took me to get there.
Both my legs were broken, my back was broken,
and it was... it was a crawl. It was a slow crawl.
Daddy!
Daddy! Where are you?!
Daddy!
McKenzie: He crawled up in to get me.
I'm right here. Okay?
It... it's painful, just to remember me sitting there,
but I'm also grateful that he found me.
Hey, can you look at me? Does anything hurt?
My belly.
Okay, okay, we got to make it back to the plane.
Okay? It's gonna be all right.
Okay, go on.
She was clearly hurt.
You know, I mean, at the time,
I knew something was wrong with her stomach.
I didn't know what.
She kept saying, "my belly, my belly."
We later... we late...
we learned later that her intestines were severed.
And, you know, at the time, I knew something,
and I had that fear, you know,
I'm thinking that maybe she's gonna bleed internally
or just something, you know, so we had that fear throughout.
We crawl ourselves back into the plane.
She was the only one alive at that point,
so that's what my focus was.
You cold, honey?
While we were in McGrath, the kids had sewn a blanket.
McKenzie: My dad wrapped me up in my quilt.
I remember just, like, looking at the blanket,
and, like, thinking it was made for a reason,
and maybe I made it because I needed it.
Don: As a man, you know, you see things in combat,
and you think that prepares you for anything in life,
and in many aspects it does.
But, the one thing, nothing can compare it to is your babies...
Aww, man.
I thought I was gonna be chill doing this,
I didn't think I was gonna get all worked up, but...
Ladegard: A routine that I always followed
when I put people on an airplane
was to just know that they'd gotten home.
It just was my own peace of mind.
Hello. This is Karen Ladegard. I'm the superintendent...
About an hour and half after I returned home,
I called the Grayling school
to, uh, see if the teachers had arrived home there yet.
The janitor answered the phone and said,
"yes, they'd just arrived.
They'd been picked up and they were home."
Great, thanks.
You too. Bye.
The next call I made was to Blackwell school in Anvik,
and there was no answer.
So, I waited a few minutes, maybe 10 minutes,
and then I called them again, and there was still no answer.
[Telephone ringing]
Dr. Duddy: Unfortunately in Anchorage, and in Alaska,
plane crashes are quite common.
Quite frequently, people don't survive the plane crashes.
One, it's in remote areas.
Two, frequently it's small planes,
and they don't survive the impact.
Don: When Rosie came to, she made some noises,
and I called out to her, and she called out to me.
Don: Rosie. Rosie, look at me.
Don?
Rosie, you okay?
I'm okay.
I mean, something was wrong, but it was like, "okay,
we were in a plane crash."
And, you know, she was incoherent,
you know, for a while.
Rosie. Rosie, stay awake.
Rosie: I do not, at all, remember the impact.
I just remember waking up afterwards.
And I remember just saying,
"Dear God, please protect my family
and my unborn child and Ernie and Julia."
My... you know, that was my immediate thought,
but I didn't know, at that time what really the situation was,
and I remember shortly afterwards when I...
when I did realize that Julia and Ernie
were no longer with us, I remember saying,
"please God protect my family,
my unborn child and Julia and Ernie's families."
[Coughing]
Oh. I can't move.
- I can't move. I can't breathe. - Don: Hang on!
She was being crushed by Ernie and Julie.
She kept screaming that, "I can't... I can't breathe,
I can't breathe," and she was coughing up dark blood.
So by removing the bodies off of her,
I was hoping to give her that relief.
I lost the baby, Don. I lost the baby.
[Crying]
[Coughing]
Shh. Shh. It's okay.
It's okay. It's okay.
My wife, she kept saying how,
"I lost my baby, I lost my baby."
I had experienced these horrible, horrible pains...
sharp pains in my stomach.
You okay? Shh.
Stay awake, guys. It's okay.
We're okay.
It's okay. It's okay. Shh, shh, shh.
It's okay. I'm right here.
Shh, shh. It's okay.
I'm right here.
My husband's face,
I could see his eyes and that gave me such comfort,
because there's always such strength and love in his eyes.
Mom?
Dad?
Help me. Somebody help me!
The next thing I remember... our son, you know, screaming,
was "help me, help me"...
And scream...
and screaming for my husband.
You know, "dad, please help me!"
Somebody help me!
Dad!
And, I remembered my husband, like, saying, you know,
"I'm... daddy's coming. Daddy's gonna get to you."
Donnie: Help me, dad! Please help me!
Don: I don't know where my son's at.
At this point, he's not in the plane,
and I don't see him outside anywhere.
[Whimpering]
Mom.
Dad.
Mom.
Dad.
Help me.
Donnie!
Somebody help me!
Help me, dad!
Our son, you know, screaming, was "help me, help me!"
And screaming for my husband, you know, "dad, please help me!"
Donnie: Dad!
Donnie, hang on, bud!
And I remember him just yelling for my dad and my mom.
I remembered my husband, like, saying, you know,
"I'm... daddy's coming. Daddy's gonna get to you."
And I remember waking up and hearing my dad say that,
"the plane went down. We need help."
Dad!
Don: I don't know where my son's at.
At this point, he's not in the plane,
and I don't see him outside anywhere.
Donnie, can you put your hand up?
That's when I realize that he was trapped underneath.
At that moment I know that we're all here,
and now I can kind of see,
like you can kind of see
from, like, where a piece of metal was kind of sticking up,
I can kind of see that he's under there.
I remember being stuck under the plane
and trying to get free, but I couldn't.
What had happened is when we had crashed,
I guess the... the tail had lifted up and his seat,
he had fallen through, and the tail had come back down,
but he was... he was underneath the aircraft.
Where are the loppers?
[Grunts]
When we had gone to McGrath, I had grabbed a pair of loppers
to prune some of the trees,
so I thought that I could use them to cut the floorboards.
We had these clippers, or pruners, loppers,
whatever you call them, in the plane.
Like, all of these things that were in the plane,
it was just so...
I mean, we... we needed every little tool...
helped us that we had on that plane.
I told him, you know, "I'm gonna cut the floorboards
and I'm gonna try to get you out of here,"
and I spend a few minutes trying to cut metal floorboards
with loppers and obviously that wasn't really doing the job.
He used them enough to just release some of that pressure
right where his waist was.
Hang on, Donnie!
I'm coming to get you.
You're gonna have to give me a second, okay, buddy?
That was kind of a setback, I guess, you know,
'cause, I mean, that was...
I didn't know how I was getting my son up.
It was at that point is when I decided,
you know, I needed to try to see where he was.
I needed to see what condition he was in.
Hold on, Daddy's coming!
And that's when I was able to crawl back outside.
Hold on, Donnie!
There was a... an antenna on the back of the plane,
and I was able to grab that antenna
and hoist myself up on top of the plane.
Donnie, where are you, bud?
Help me, dad! Please help me.
Hold on. I'm coming.
And then I let myself drop to the other side where he was.
[Grunts]
I get to the other side of the plane, and my son was dangling,
or his head was unsupported, dangling from the aircraft.
I knew right away
we were going to be here for some length of time.
And I knew I had to get his head supported.
Rosie: There was a... a log there,
a piece of a willow tree that had been broken,
obviously now we know in the crash.
Don: I was able to take one of the willow branches.
It couldn't have been a more perfect length,
and I was able to prop his head up.
I love you.
I'm sorry.
I'm sorry, Donnie.
Donnie: I thought I was just having a bad dream,
so I fell back asleep.
I thought it was all part of the dream, but it wasn't.
Dr. Duddy: It was just purely remarkable.
It really was.
I'm sorry, Donnie.
Typically anyone that would have the injuries that Don had
wouldn't be able to crawl more than five feet.
I mean, they would not be able to do what he was able to do.
It was just pure determination on his part
and pure love for his family that he was able to do that.
Don: It's not so much a testament to strength,
it's love that... that drives you.
You know, it's strong, that's my point,
is it's... it's stronger than pain.
It's strong... it's stronger than...
there's nothing else that even comes close.
For me as a father, if I could still take a breath,
and if I can do anything for my babies,
then it's gonna get done.
I mean, it's just what it is.
Ladegard: One of the things I always did
when I put anyone on an airplane was to follow the flight.
I called the school in Anvik, and there was no answer.
And then I decided
I would just call Julie's husband, Robert Walker,
and he told me that he'd been on the runway waiting
and the plane had not come in.
So, at that time, I called the headquarters of the air taxi.
Hello, this is Karen Ladegard.
I'm calling form McGrath.
We had a couple of charter flights bringing teachers home.
It seems that one of the flights hasn't landed.
They said, "Well, we're trying to track the plane right now.
We'll give you a call back."
Yes, as soon as you have anything.
Thank you.
Don: My wife, she had broken both of her legs.
Both of her feet were completely shattered.
She had broken her back.
I would call, you know "Rosie,"
and she... I would say, "answer me."
I'm awake.
Rosie, you have to stay with me.
Rosie, I need you to stay with me.
I need you.
Not every time was there a response.
You know, that's where McKenzie would... she would ask me,
she was like, "is mommy okay, is mommy okay?"
And, you know, what do you tell her?
I mean, "I don't know. I-I don't know."
She would be out for maybe 15 minutes,
maybe an hour at a time,
and every time, I'm thinking she's, you know, she's gone.
She had so many convulsions or whatever they were.
She would go, and it was like almost like watching her die
every time, and every time she did this,
and she'd pass out.
You're just praying, you're just...
that's all you're doing.
There's nothing else to do besides sit there and pray.
Don: We're in the plane, you know, we're all alive,
we're locked in this position, and at this point,
we're not moving, we can't move, and this is where we're at,
and we know, you know, we're... we're not leaving
until someone comes and gets us.
It's starting to get dark at this point,
and I can notice that the lights are dim
on the... on the cockpit,
so obviously now my first thought is,
"okay, radio contact,"
so I grabbed, you know, the radio
and I tried to make contact.
And every time I hit the button,
the lights just dim out, dim out.
So there's nothing there.
So, that's when I remembered the spot.
The spot satellite GPS receiver
that was on the pilot's visor when we took off,
I was hoping that it was still around.
And I looked up on the visor,
and it was no longer on the visor.
Rosie: It was on the floor, like near Ernie's feet,
and so he grabbed the spot and pressed it and pressed it.
You know, there's no communication back and forth.
You press the button, and you hope someone gets it.
And that's it. I don't know.
I probably hit that thing a million times that night.
[Telephone rings]
Hello.
Man: Karen Ladegard, please.
This is Karen.
Hello, Karen.
This is headquarters calling from air taxi.
We tracked the airplane from its emergency locator.
And it does seems that the plane has gone down.
We've contacted the air national guard
to go out with helicopters
but since they are based in Anchorage,
crossing the Alaska range right now
is going to be impossible in these foggy conditions.
It's going to be at least a couple of hours.
That's the earliest you can send out search crews?
We're hoping to get out by 10:00 P.M.,
but it could be later.
[Sighs]
Thank you.
The air taxi told me that they had tracked the airplane
from its emergency locator.
It was down. It was down.
And... that was the worst news that I could have ever heard.
The airplane was basically headed right for a mountain.
And for the most part, the pilot was able to pull up
just before impact, which cushioned the... the impact,
but nevertheless the airplane
sustained a tremendous amount of damage.
The belly of the airplane, for the most part,
was disintegrated, which unfortunately subjected
all the occupants of the airplane
to anything on the ground...
stumps, rocks, broken trees...
and it's ultimately where a lot of the injuries were sustained.
We hit a point
where there was nothing to do but lay there.
I could move my arms, but the rest of my body was numb.
I couldn't even move it if I wanted to.
Just to shift was... was a huge task.
Kenzie, keep your eyes open, okay?
He kept telling us not to fall asleep,
and he just kept saying that.
Don't fall asleep. Stay awake, okay?
Okay.
Stay awake, guys!
Not to fall asleep, 'cause if we did, we'd probably die.
Our goal was to try to stay awake
and just to try to keep each other awake.
- You with me? - Yeah.
- Yeah? You okay? - Mm-hmm.
- Yeah. - Stay awake.
"Are you okay? You know, just yell to me, 'I'm okay.'"
Donnie? Rosie?
Come on, guys. Stay with me, okay?
A couple of seconds would go by,
"everyone talk to me and say you're okay."
Then, you know, they would say, "I'm okay,"
and we continued this throughout the night.
Keep your eyes open, okay?
Okay.
Just doing anything to kill the time was my goal,
was just to kill the time for everybody
and try to keep them preoccupied.
I was able to move my left arm, and throughout the night,
I was able to...
my son was trapped behind me, where he couldn't move.
But the one thing that he could also move was his left arm,
and so we were able to touch our left arms
and hold each other's hands,
and that gave me a lot of comfort throughout the night.
I remember holding her hand.
It was hard to because I was under the plane,
but every once in a while, I was able to.
Most of the time, it was me and McKenzie,
just kind of holding each other in the back.
Rosie was really by herself, up, you know, sitting,
and, you know, I was able to reach
and just like, you know, just touch her barely, you know?
So we were all able to hold each other.
Somebody had touched, somebody was holding someone
throughout the whole night.
It's a heart-wrenching story.
Nobody should be able to...
should have to go through anything like this.
Having to stay in the airplane overnight,
under those conditions...
keep in mind it's wet, it's cold,
it's a very, very tough situation.
I wouldn't want my family
being subjected to something like that.
[Wolves howling]
Donnie: What the hell was that?
What was that?
We started to hear wolves howl.
And it was just like, "come on, you know, seriously?"
[Wolves howling]
Donnie Evans: What the hell was that?
McKenzie: What was that? - No.
McKenzie: When we were all in the plane,
after I made my way back to the plane,
and we were sitting there,
I remember we heard a pack of wolves.
[Wolves howling]
What was that? What was that?
What was that?
What was that, Daddy? What was that?
Don: Shh, it's okay. It's okay.
[Bleep]
I mean, you know, it was, you know...
when I heard the wolves,
it was like, "come on, you know, seriously?"
Some kind of break.
Everyone's whimpering and crying
and then, you know, we're there for a few hours,
and you start to...
you feel like, you know, are they smelling death?
It's okay. It's okay. It's okay.
[Wolves howling]
It's okay.
When I heard the wolves, it was...
I mean, the reaction was like, "this is... this is it."
I mean, you know, I mean, it was extreme,
and I mean, it's a natural...
if you hear wolves and you're in a position we were in,
I mean, it's a...
it definitely strikes the element of fear in you
if haven't felt it before.
[Wolves howling]
Rosie: We were in a plane, we had injuries, we were bleeding,
you know, we had two people that were no longer with us
and, you know, we were scared of what, you know, could happen
if we, you know, weren't quiet.
Don: Guys, I know it's tough,
but we got to keep it quiet, okay?
Okay? Shh, it's okay. It's okay. It's okay.
I remember my husband saying,
"guys, guys, just please whatever you do,
"just you have to stop screaming, you cannot scream,
"you know, you have to keep it quiet,
we don't want to attract them."
They might've not even have known we were there,
but the fact of just hearing them in our position,
I mean, you couldn't help but wonder if they were here for us.
[Wolves howling]
That stayed in the back of our minds throughout
the, you know, throughout the night.
You know, every time you heard something,
you heard the wind blow and you heard the...
you know the bushes rustle, I mean,
you always had that fleeting thought
of, you know, what's outside.
The chances of surviving both the plane wreck
and the elements was very remote.
By the elements, I mean, the weather, the exposure,
the animals, the risk of being attacked,
everything comes into play out in the remote Alaska.
McKenzie: I was scared,
because I didn't know if anyone was gonna find us.
Don: Stay awake, okay?
I was trying to stay, like, calm,
but, like, not trying to freak out.
But it was still, because I was only 8,
I was still, like, really scared.
Don: You hear so many stories or I mean...
if I could have just told them,
if I could have just told this person that I love them,
or if I could have just said a final goodbye.
Well, we had that moment.
It was real communication. It was real listening.
And it was real just, it was healing taking place
in the most awkward of places.
We were safe, and I was lucky to be alive
and still have my sister and my family.
Rosie: There was times where I was in and out of it.
I could hear my husband,
and I could hear him talking to me
and telling me to stay with it, but I could not.
I could not speak. I couldn't speak at all.
It was me begging her at that point,
because she would come in and out,
so just don't leave, just fight.
It was fight, just fight with everything you have
and we can, you know, we're going to do this together.
We're gonna raise our babies together.
Our son, during this time,
had kind of gone in and out of consciousness,
I guess you'd say.
At one point, there was a knocking on the plane
and I think it was probably part of the wing that had snapped.
Mom?
Donnie?
My friends are here.
Can I practice my bow?
And I pretended like that really happened.
I said, "oh, sure, honey."
Just make sure everyone's being careful. Be safe.
He's like, "okay, mom, I'm going out."
And I remember feeling almost at peace
that he was kind of out of it a little bit,
that, you know, hopefully, he wouldn't...
Have so... you know, have experienced,
you know, so much pain, I guess.
Don: We were waiting for anything.
We were waiting for people to come and to an assemble a team.
Don: They're looking for us, okay?
They're gonna find us. Donnie, can you hear me?
We did have faith that somebody
was... was going to come and try to find us.
Time had passed over the course of the night
and...
[Sighs]
Eventually, at some point we had heard...
you can hear the rescuers come
and you can hear the helicopters, and you...
I could see like a faint orange or red light in the distance,
and they were hovering over for quite a while.
Help. Help us! Help us! We're here!
I remember us all, like, screaming,
as if they could hear us, which, you know,
we all know that they couldn't,
and there was a computer that... we had a computer.
We had had our personal one and one that was, you know,
given to us by the school district,
uh, for school use.
McKenzie: Help! Rosie: Help us!
Don: We had two laptops in one bag
and the screens were totally shattered,
and there was nothing there.
And then one of the school laptops turned on,
and it worked.
McKenzie: Help! Rosie: Help
help! Come on.
Come on. I can see their spotlight.
- They got to see us. - Help!
I remember him trying to signal with this computer screen.
Help!
Help us!
It had the white screen, and we had...
it was leaning outside just trying to reflect
some type of light, hoping they would see it.
McKenzie: Help! Rosie: Help us!
Don: We'd do that a few times and, you know,
I don't think anybody, you know, nobody saw it.
Every minute that passed,
you know, I just felt more desperate and more hopeless,
thinking that "okay, why...
"you know, why are they not coming down,
why are they, you know... they know that we're here,
"they're right above us.
They have to know that we're here."
We heard helicopters go by so many times,
but none of them actually, like, saw the plane,
and every time, we would get our hopes up.
Donnie Evans: Help!
Rosie: [Crying] No.
Before you knew it, it just...
That sound became fainter and fainter,
and I could hear them less and less.
And that's when it really became really dismal in that plane.
It was... I remember the whole atmosphere changing
from, like, hope to...
You know, that there was no hope.
[Crying] No, no. No.
Don: Rosie? - Yeah?
[Helicopter blades whirring]
McKenzie: Help!
Rosie: Help us!
I heard rescuers come, I heard the helicopter,
but I couldn't see anything.
Help!
[Crying] No. No.
Before you knew it, that sound became fainter and fainter,
and I could hear them less and less.
Don: Rosie?
Yeah.
And I remember just feeling really, really just weak
and thinking that that was it,
that was our chance for them to come
and, you know, it's over, they're not gonna come back.
McKenzie, keep your eyes open, okay?
- You doing okay? McKenzie: Yeah, I'm okay.
We found out the night before the crash
that my mom was pregnant.
No one thought she was gonna survive.
Rosie, stay awake, okay?
Mm-hmm.
Rosie. Mm-hmm.
Throughout the night, I wanted to sleep.
I remember my husband
just after that really being persistent
trying to keep us all up and just keep us with it.
And I remember being so aggravated with him,
just leave me alone, you know, and I just want to rest.
I just... I kept telling him, "I want to rest my eyes,
I want to rest my eyes."
And him telling us, "no, we have to stay awake,
and so sing songs."
And he's like, "come on, babe.
Sing that song you always sing to the kids."
Rosie, want to sing the song again?
Sing the song one more time.
♪ These little hands... ♪
The song goes, "these little hands are held in prayer
to thank you God for being there."
We sang that song throughout the night
over and over and over again.
♪ These little hands ♪
♪ We hold in prayer ♪
♪ To thank you God for being there ♪
♪ These little hearts talk to you ♪
♪ To ask... ♪ I would sing a verse,
then MacKenzie would sing a verse
or don would sing a verse and Donnie
and that is what kept us, you know, going all night.
♪ To ask God what we should do ♪
♪ These little eyes are filled with... ♪
It just brought me back to when I was, like, younger,
'cause that was, like, kind of, like, a nursery rhyme for us.
I remember that we would sing those verses all the time
before we went to bed.
♪ These little hands ♪
♪ We hold in prayer ♪
♪ To thank you God for being there ♪
Don: Over and over and just keep singing it
and she did that to show her affection to the children
and she was the one who really held together
the love aspect, if you will, where it was like...
it was just that real, you know, pure motherly love.
It was just very, it was just strong and natural,
that's just what it was.
[Indistinct conversations]
Man: Well, ladies...
Ladegard: Somehow or another,
the word got out to the community of McGrath
and that's when people started showing up at my house with food
and just support.
And we all just sat together and just prayed for the best.
It was excruciating because we couldn't do anything to help.
We knew that they needed help.
There wasn't a thing we could do to help.
The air national guard were able to dispatch a helicopter
around 11:00 that night.
And they were able to get through the mountains,
and they were able to go over to where the crash site was
but they could not land.
Apparently there was...
there were low clouds at that time.
There was weather that was preventing them from landing.
That was a very long, excruciating night for me
and, of course, I hate to even say that
because of what were the people in the airplane
going through that night.
Don: Donnie?
Yeah, dad?
Donnie, you with me?
Yeah, I'm good, dad. I'm here.
Once morning came, the fog was so thick.
And I was like, "oh, man,
"they're not... they're not coming yet.
There's... there's no way they're coming through this."
And that... that was my big thing then,
it was just, God, this... this fog has got to lift
or we're not... we're not leaving this mountain.
And by this time, every one of us,
we've lost some blood, you know, we're all tired, we're beat up.
Stay awake, Donnie.
I'll try, dad.
Don: You get to a point
where, you know, your kids are suffering,
your wife is suffering and no one's coming.
Your thought process isn't very rational.
In my mind it was, this is no longer gonna be a rescue effort,
it's gonna be a recovery effort.
You know, so, in my mind, it was, they're not coming.
Kenzie, where are the clementines?
I think they're back here.
When we were at the store,
we had purchased a little bag of oranges.
All of our vegetables that we had when we were out there
was coming from a small farm in Washington State
that was being flown to us once a week.
So having a bag of oranges on hand,
well, it was kind of a big deal.
Some of them, I think, had fallen out,
like, there was like just enough
for us all to have a stinking Clementine.
He gave all of us an orange and said...
A little bit of sunshine in our lives.
Rosie, we only have four, okay?
Rosie: Okay.
Don: Rosie was going to, you know, peel it
for Donnie and herself and it was just, you know,
I don't know, I guess it was kind of a last meal.
We had had a bottle of water with a fish in it, um...
I really honestly don't remember why, exactly,
why he took this bottle of water with the fish in it.
Here's some water.
Sorry, little fish.
I took a sip and then I gave it to my son
and he took a sip.
I don't even remember thinking about, "oh, the fish is in here,
am I going to look at the fish?"
I just remember taking a sip
and being thankful that I had something to sip on.
Don: There was a few moments of silence
and a few moments of just obviously deep reflection
of, you know, why the hell am I up here on this mountain?
What life decisions did I make to get here?
Why did I drag my family to Alaska
for I can catch a big fish?
What's really important?
I put them in this situation.
I-I mean, they're here because of me.
You know, we love adventure
but Alaska was definitely, it was, for me.
All right, everyone, after this,
we're gonna take a small nap, okay?
They're coming to get us. They're coming.
And I told the kids, I'm like,
"all right, everyone just take a small nap.
"They're coming to get us.
"They're just wrote me on the spot
"that, you know, they're sending help
"and they're gonna be here shortly, so let's just relax,
and, you know, we'll wait for them to get here."
Something inside of me knew, when he said that, you know,
that's not like him, "why is he telling us to take a nap?"
I think he had given up at this point.
He had been so strong the whole time...
But I think, at that point, he was like, "okay... "
I think he had given up
and he really didn't have any hope left that they were coming.
I was done watching my babies suffer.
It was... I was done watching my wife suffer.
It was like, "we're going to do this, let's do this together.
You know, let's go to sleep in peace."
Thank you for my life.
For me, there was another prayer,
"thank you for my family, just thank you for my life."
You know, it...
[Helicopter blades whirring]
It was at that moment that, you know, we heard the choppers,
and you know, once I heard that, I mean, it was the sound.
I mean, it's the most beautiful sound.
It was like a dream come true,
as, like, someone wished for a unicorn and it showed up.
Rosie: You could feel the... the breeze on your face.
I remember leaves swishing around like crazy,
and, all of a sudden,
it was like that was it, they were here.
I knew at that time they had to see us
and I knew that they were here to rescue us.
We were safe.
Don: It's the air national guard para rescue unit, 212th.
Here was these guys, I mean, the weather still shady
and every one of them is risking their lives.
I could see them,
and I could see, you know, um, ropes dangling,
and then I saw feet.
And I... probably never been so happy in my life
except for when I got married and had my children.
My husband said, you know, "take my wife, she's pregnant.
You know, take her first."
We're done.
We're... we're gonna get out of here. We're alive.
You know, just, so it was definitely...
it was... it was a good feeling, for sure.
Cessna 207 in route to Anvik from McGrath.
Pilot was a real vet, over 25,000 hours.
Johnson: We deal with airplane accidents
pretty much a monthly basis in Alaska.
This was an on-demand charter,
whereas, the school district called up,
said they needed to move a certain number of people
from point "a" to point "b," so they chartered this airplane.
So the accident airplane was a Cessna 207.
It's the mainstay,
or basically the... the pickup truck, if you will,
of the Alaskan community.
Ultimately what we're trying to do is,
we're trying to figure out if there were any mechanical issues
that we needed to look at, once that wreckage is recovered.
When we first walked up to the airplane,
the first thing that came to my mind is
how in heaven's name did we have any survivors in this airplane?
That airplane was traveling in an excess of 100 Miles an hour,
which as you can imagine can be a horrendous impact.
I was the orthopedic surgeon on call
at Providence hospital in Alaska
when I was notified of a airplane crash
in which there were survivors.
Can you tell me your name?
Rosemarie Evans.
Okay, great, Rosemarie.
Can you tell me what day of the week it is?
It's Sunday. Where's my family?
My husband said, you know, "take my wife, she's pregnant.
You know, take her first."
They hoisted me up to the helicopter,
and the next thing I knew, I was heading to McGrath,
and I was waiting for the rest of my family to arrive.
I understand that you're pregnant.
Is that correct, Rosie?
Yes, but my family was on the plane.
They're coming. Where are they?
The other person is going to be here soon.
I want you to try to relax.
The other person? There's three other people.
There should be three other people.
One of the gentlemen came over and said,
"okay, the other person is on their way."
And I... and I looked at him, I said,
"what do you mean the other person?
"There's three other people,
there should be three other people."
Two other people have died.
I was just there. We were all there.
They were all alive.
I just left and there was all of us.
We were all alive and I became very emotional.
And then he said, "well, hold on. Let me... hold on a minute.
I'll be right back."
And in the translation
that two people had died and four were, you know, alive,
it was kind of the opposite was translated.
And then he came back and he said,
"your family's on their way."
And I-I-I remember feeling this awful feeling
and not really knowing if I believed him
or what had happened since I left.
All of a sudden, I could hear
other people coming on to join me.
I saw my husband and my two children
and, um, I remember thinking that that was it,
we were all together and, you know, we were saved.
I remember feeling, like, so grateful,
but, at the same time, I knew that we were saved,
but I knew, at that moment, that two families, you know,
would have the news
that their family members were no longer with us.
I just want to let them know that I'm sorry.
[Sniffles]
Rosemarie, we ran a blood test.
You're still pregnant. Eight weeks along.
Don: We thought the baby was dead on the plane.
So when we got to the hospital and we found out
that, you know, the baby was still well, we were overjoyed.
I mean, you couldn't even put it into words how happy we were.
But that's when the doctors told us, you know, "don't be happy,
"don't be... you know, don't get your hopes up.
You're not going to be able to have this child."
Your body has been under a great deal of stress.
There's a fairly high likelihood
that your baby is not going to survive
as we go forward with your treatment. Okay?
Rosie: I remember a part of me being angry
but part of me sympathizing with them
because they just didn't want me
to have to deal with one more thing, you know,
and just not, you know, be able to handle it,
so I think they just tried to help me be prepared
for whatever was to come.
- Get some rest. - Thanks.
Don: Right off the bat,
they were telling her you're not going to have this child.
You know, and, she fought.
She rejected pain medications.
I mean, she's lying here
with shattered bones through her entire body...
you know, rejecting pain medication
just for, you know, just to be a mommy.
You know, so that was hard
because there was a lot of suffering on her part obviously
and, you know, to witness her go through that pain.
I mean, we all went through our injuries and whatnot,
but, you know, we're laying there on morphine drip,
you know, and dealing with it, you know.
She laid there and she... she went though that pain.
You know, by herself.
You know, and it's funny
'cause we always used to always joke, you know,
about I-I can't have anything but a strong woman by my side.
And you know, we used to kind of play around,
and we used to joke back and forth,
but, talk about demonstrating that, man,
and just, you know, she's strong.
She blows my mind, you know.
Dr. Duddy: His memory of the night
is actually remarkable.
The wife's too.
Don. Hi, how are you? Don: Good.
Don, this is Clint Johnson.
He's an investigator for the NTSB
and he would like to ask you a few questions
if that's okay with you.
Okay. Clint.
Johnson: One of the nicest things here with this accident
is we had a survivor.
We had somebody that was right up front
and was able to tell us exactly what happened.
It's worth its weight in gold
as far as an accident investigator goes.
What Mr. Evans was able to explain to us is,
they couldn't see outside because of the rain and the fog.
And it got worse and it got worse and it got worse.
As soon as they popped out of the clouds,
the windscreen was filled with the mountain
in front of them.
And for the most part, the pilot was able to pull up
just before impact, which cushioned the... the impact,
but nevertheless
the airplane sustained a tremendous amount of damage.
I've seen airplanes that have had less damage
and people had not survived.
Rosie: I don't blame anyone for this.
You know, accidents happen every day,
whether they are minor or whether they are huge.
Accidents do happen and I don't, nor will I ever blame anyone.
Dr. Duddy: The chances of medically not having severe injuries
to the lower extremities for Donnie were, um, unheard of.
I mean, he should have lost his legs
given how long that that had happened.
The only reason why he did not lose his legs
because Don was able to pry the pressure off of his legs.
Don: The biggest thing for my son is his face.
My face was broken in the crash.
They had to surgically pull his face forward again.
McKenzie: I broke my arm and my stomach.
My intestines were severed.
The chances for survival
of a person being catapulted out of a plane crash...
the survival rate of that is very, very small for an adult
let alone a child.
McKenzie was very fortunate.
Rosie sustained severe injuries.
Hers actually were worse than don's.
Their recovery was months long.
Rosie was in a wheelchair for three or four months,
and Don was in a little bit less,
probably about 8 to 12 weeks.
What Don did despite having two broken legs and a broken back,
able to crawl extensively to make sure
that each one of his family members were safe,
it was just purely remarkable.
It really was.
I think my husband is amazing. He's my hero.
He always has been.
He's the strongest man that I know.
And he never... he never wants credit for any of it.
Anytime I compliment him,
he acts like, "oh, it's no big deal.
I mean, who wouldn't do that?"
But I know different.
I truly believe that this is a medical miracle.
The mere fact that they survived an un-survivable plane crash,
then survived the horrible weather
isolated in Alaska
and then to have relatively minimal complications
truly is a miracle.
Johnson: This pilot had been doing this
for a long, long time.
No ifs, no ands, no buts. This is an accident.
Unfortunately, a very unfortunate one.
For me, the lessons learned is, nobody is immune.
Ladegard: I think one of the things we can learn
from the Evans family survival
is... the importance of positive thinking.
I wonder if Don even was aware of his injuries that evening,
because he had such a big job
to keep the people who had survived alive.
Dr. Duddy: He literally was putting his own life on the line
to make sure his family was okay.
Family came first for Don.
Don is definitely a survivor.
They're all survivors,
but Don demonstrated that very clearly that day.
We really all should have been dead, but we're not,
and a lot of people don't understand why,
and we don't even understand why.
I don't think, you know, we're never going to have that answer.
That is a burden. You do carry that.
Well, why us?
Well, now it's just trying to fill those shoes
of... of, you know, those that aren't here
and trying to live, live for them, too.
I continued on with my pregnancy and I had a beautiful baby girl.
Hey, McKenzie.
Hey, Dad.
Ready for some sunshine in your life?
Mm-hmm.
Meet your baby sister.
Hi, Willow.
Willow, this is McKenzie.
Everyone would say that she wasn't going to live,
and that she probably was gonna die soon,
but I always said that
she was supposed to be here with our family,
and that's why she survived through it with us.
Rosie: We named her Willow Julia Grace Evans.
This is Willow.
Willow comes from the willow branch that I used
to prop up my son.
And then Julia for the teacher that died.
And Grace because the grace of God
that we all made it through as a family.
The next step we take will always be as a family.
And just because something happens to a family
doesn't mean that they can't be happy.
We don't sweat a lot of the small stuff that we used to.
It's interesting how you sit back and you watch the world.
It's very fast-paced,
and in a lot of aspects, it's without purpose.
People are just going through these motions of these lives.
We live like we're gonna live forever.
And, you know, that's the only thing that we can bet on
is that we're not.
Our entire lives came unraveled in this plane crash.
If there's anything, you know, I want...
I hope that somebody can take from our situation,
it's to... to never give up, as long as you're taking a breath,
you know, there is always a possibility
that life's gonna get better.
There's always an opportunity just to keep fighting.
Rosie: The will to survive is a strong and amazing thing,
especially when you have your family beside you.
Donnie: My dad before the crash,
he said, "God, save my family," and he definitely did.
We're all lucky to be alive and to still have each other.
Everyone survives, and that's our story.
Sync & Corrected by laulau www.addic7ed.com