TMC PULSE

t m c » p u l s e | d e c e m b e r 2 0 1 5 32 G ary and Linda Flynt still don't know exactly what happened. That information will come with the official report from the National Transportation Safety Board, likely citing mechanical failure of some kind after an extensive investigation over the recovered Cessna 172 parts is complete. Until then, all they have is the string of facts they pieced together while recovering as a family at Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center (TMC). It was July 7, 2014, and Gary, a NASA engineer and experienced flight instructor, had taken his wife and their youngest son, Jonathon, on an evening ride in their private plane. After 30 min- utes in the air and a brief landing, the on their way. Gary remembers calling out repeatedly to Linda and Jonathon, trying to confirm that both were OK. Within minutes, all three were taken by Memorial Hermann Life Flight helicopters to Memorial Hermann Texas Trauma Institute, where adult and pediatric trauma teams were wait- ing to evaluate their injuries. "I barely remember anything from that night after the crash," Linda recalled. "I know I was taken in for surgery pretty much immediately, and I remember feeling relieved knowing that Gary and Jon were together in the ER." Linda had suffered a neck fracture and a crushed carotid artery, as well as facial lacerations, a dislocated right elbow and multiple internal injuries including severe intestinal damage. Gary was being treated for a dislocated elbow, broken nose, lacerations to his face and difficulty breathing, while Jonathon had deep cuts in both knees as well as extensive fractures in his jaw. "Jonathon was in the emergency bay next to me before he was taken into surgery, which was invaluable for my peace of mind," Gary said. "Once I fig- ured out that everybody had survived the accident and was conscious, I didn't have a real concern because I felt like we were being taken care of, that we were in the best place for our injuries and that there wasn't anything to worry about at that point. We were together." Alfred Mansour, M.D., UTHealth pediatric orthopedic surgeon at Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital, which shares a campus with Memorial Hermann-TMC, was on call the night of the accident. "After our trauma teams stabilized Jonathon, they brought him to the ICU, which is where I first saw him," Mansour said. "The open cuts in his knees were very deep and a cause for From left to right, Gary, Linda and Jonathon Flynt at Baytown Airport before a Saturday morning flight. Top Guns For a family in need of trauma care, there's nowhere better than Memorial Hermann-Texas Medical Center and Children's Memorial Hermann Hospital B y A l e x a n d r a B e c k e r aircraft reached its final ascent at 300 feet when the engine inexplicably quit. Quickly calculating his options at that altitude, Gary searched for a safe place to land. To their left, stadium lights from a little league practice illu- minated an open park next to a pair of baseball fields—it was perfect. Steadily guiding the plane in that direction, Gary prepared his family for landing when the plane's right wing clipped a power line, abruptly twisting the air- craft and flipping it upside down. Just moments later, they made impact with the ground. The family's memories from the rest of the evening are vague and chaotic. A man with a baseball glove yelled into the cockpit to tell them EMS was

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