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Air Canada flight attendant who was ejected from plane during LaGuardia crash speaks out
The Air Canada flight attendant who survived the crash of an Air Canada jet at LaGuardia Airport in New York last month has spoken out on the GoFundMe page set up by her family.
Solange Tremblay was working as a flight attendant on Air Canada Express Flight 8646 on the evening of March 22 when it struck a fire truck that had driven onto the runway as it was landing.
The captain and first officer, Antoine Forest and Mackenzie Gunther, were killed as the front of the jet crumpled. The impact injured 37 passengers, both flight attendants, and both occupants of the truck.
Tremblay was in a jump seat behind the cockpit door, which was ejected from the aircraft and found over 100 metres away from the wreckage. She was conscious throughout and sustained severe injuries including two shattered legs requiring multiple surgeries where metal plates were needed to repair the damage.
She also sustained a fractured spine, and required skin graphs to repair flesh lost on her legs while sliding down the tarmac. She received a blood transfusion due to complications from her first surgery.
Tremblay’s daughter Sarah Lépine and her cousin Johannes Verbeek set up a GoFundMe page to support her recovery. Tremblay recently added a personal note to the page, and an update on her recovery.
“I want to thank each and everyone of you from the bottom of my heart for your love, support, your kind words from all around the world,” she wrote on April 5. “I am speechless, without words, and so full of gratitude for your help, and so grateful to still be alive.”
She added that her “spine is fine” and that she has a third surgery on her right leg coming up soon.
“I am slowly recovering and have a lot of support from my employer, my family, and friends near and far,” she added. “I still have a very long journey ahead of me to recover physically and mentally, but I am strong, positive and ready to do so.”
She signed off: “Salut tout le monde!” (Goodbye/good wishes everyone)
The page has a goal of $300,000. As of April 14, the total raised stood at almost $250,000 from more than 3,800 donations, including several anonymous donations of more than $1,000 apiece.
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