A 12-year-old boy trapped under a crashed helicopter in Huntington Beach in an unlikely chain of events is on the path to recovery after a memorable birthday that boosted his family’s spirits.
Oliver Holland was pinned under the helicopter when it crashed Oct. 11 in a beach parking lot, injuring five people. He had been in a medically induced coma until he woke up over the weekend on his 12th birthday after surgeries for a collapsed lung and bleeding in his brain.
“I was there when he woke up, and I was just crying tears of joy,” said sister Madeline Ashwell, adding that Oliver was able to speak with family members.
The helicopter went down next to the Hyatt Regency Huntington Beach Resort and Spa at 21500 Pacific Coast Highway. Part of the heavily damaged helicopter came to rest on top of a staircase leading from the parking lot.
Oliver was with relatives from out of town and walking to the bridge from the beach when the helicopter crashed.
“Wrong place, wrong time,” Madeline said. “If Oliver was five feet ahead, it wouldn’t have happened.
“What we’ve told him is that he was just in an accident. And, what he says is, ‘How did this happen? Why did a helicopter land on me?’”
Video showed the helicopter hovering over the lot before spinning out of control. It crashed into palm trees before falling onto one end of a pedestrian bridge over Pacific Coast Highway.
Video showed Oliver on a pedestrian bridge staircase pinned under the wreckage.
The helicopter is a 1980 Bell 222 helicopter that took off from Redlands Municipal Airport. The helicopter was part of the Cars N’ Copters event scheduled for Sunday, according to officials.
The National Transportation Safety Board has taken over the investigation.
Source: NBC Los Angeles
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