A 10-year-old who pushed his sister out of the way when a medical jet crashed in northeast Philadelphia last week had two things on his mind when he woke up from emergency brain surgery: the Super Bowl and his sister.
Trey Howard, 10, was with his dad and his younger siblings picking up donuts when the aircraft came crashing down near the family’s car, flinging debris right at them, 6ABC first reported. Amid the chaos, the child shielded his toddler sister — a brave move that landed him in the hospital with a severe head injury.
His family recalled the little boy’s first thoughts after waking up from emergency brain surgery.
“We didn’t play yesterday did we?’ ‘No, you didn’t miss the Super Bowl,'” Andre Howard Jr., Trey’s father, recalled.
The little boy then asked: “Daddy, did I save my sister?”
Trey Howard, 10, had to undergo emergency brain surgery after he shielded his younger sister from flying debris in the wake of the plane crash in Philadelphia (GoFundMe)
The young hero acted after a medical jet carrying a young girl, her mother and four crew members crashed Friday evening near the Roosevelt Mall, killing all people on board as well as one person on the ground and injuring more than 20 others.
“Sounded like a missile was firing bullets, metal at my car, everyone else’s car,” Trey’s father, told the outlet. “You see a car on fire, a man walking on fire. It was just crazy.”
The father put his car in reverse while Trey told his 4-year-old sister to “Get down!” as he shielded her from flying debris.
“I turn around and he has metal outside of his head,” Andre said of Trey. He then applied pressure to try to stop the bleeding with socks and a shirt belonging to a man on the street, he told 6ABC.
The 10-year-old was rushed to the hospital, where he underwent emergency brain surgery. The family was given heartbreaking news. There’s “a strong chance he might not survive,” the boy’s father recalled hearing.
Miraculously, he did. The first words Trey, a “die-hard” Philadelphia Eagles fan, spoke after he woke up were about the Super Bowl, his dad said.
“He asked me, ‘Daddy, what’s today?’ I was like, ‘Monday.’ ‘OK, wait. We didn’t play yesterday did we?’ ‘No, you didn’t miss the Super Bowl,'” Andre Howard recalled. The Eagles will play the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, February 9 in New Orleans. The Eagles will play the Kansas City Chiefs on Sunday, February 9 in New Orleans.
The crashed killed seven people and injured the boy. However, after his surgery he wondered if was out so long that he had missed the Super Bowl
Trey then asked about his sibling: “Daddy, did I save my sister?”
“‘You told us to get down. I was just trying to help my sister… Next thing I know, I thought I died,'” the 10-year-old told his dad, the older Howard recalled.
He continued: “As a dad, it’s bittersweet… I’m glad he listened but that’s my job, not his job, to protect his sister.”
Some social media users are hoping that the Eagles send the courageous child to the Super Bowl.
“What a brave boy! Hope the Eagles hear about him and do something special for him,” one user wrote on Facebook.
“All I gotta say is the Eagles better make something happen for this little boy and his family,” another wrote.
The Independent has reached out to a representative for the Philadelphia Eagles for comment.
While he’s not an Eagle, Tyrese Maxey of the 76ers — one of Trey’s favorite NBA players — visited the 10-year-old hero in the hospital, the outlet reported.
“He says thank you to everybody,” the older Howard said of his son, before recalling an exchange they had: “He cries, ‘Daddy, I’m a celebrity.’ ‘No, you’re bigger than a celebrity. You’re a superhero.”
A GoFundMe page for Trey has raised nearly $60,000 as of Wednesday morning. The funds will go toward his medical expenses and physical therapy as well as travel and lodging for his family.
#Daddy #save #sister
Leave a Reply