By Nicole Chavez
Austin American-Statesman
AUSTIN, Texas — Six helicopters similar to the EC-145 model in which STAR Flight nurse Kristin McLain performed many rescues over the years flew over Hill Country Bible Church Austin on Friday as friends, family and first responders celebrated her life and mourned her loss at a memorial service.
“Heroes are hard to find, but they are harder to lose,” STAR Flight senior pilot Chuck Spangler said while addressing dozens of first responders wearing their flight suits, law enforcement officers and many others who were close to McLain.
The service began after a procession that took McLain’s casket in an ambulance from the Weed-Corley-Fish Funeral Home in Lakeway to the Northwest Austin church. Many members of the community lined the road to express their solidarity during the 40-minute procession of ambulances, firetrucks and patrol cars from several Central Texas agencies.
A green paddle board, a flight helmet and other gear were placed on the stage behind the casket of McLain, a caring woman who was remembered Friday for her strong determination. Colleagues, friends and relatives told stories of the 46-year-old holding the hand of a patient during an entire flight and paddling 21 miles from dam to dam on Lake Austin to raise money to battle cancer.
She was born in Colorado Springs in 1969. Her love of horses led her to pursue a career in equine science in the 1990s. Later, she went back to school to become a nurse, a family member said while reading her obituary.
She was working in the emergency room at Denver Health Medical Center when she realized her calling was to become a rescue flight nurse.
Patrick Mahaney, a seasoned pilot from Colorado, traveled to Austin to attend McLain’s memorial service. He met McLain when she took her first job as a rescue nurse for Flight for Life of Colorado and said she “lived the principles of a search and rescue crew to the fullest.”
In 2008, when McLain began her career with STAR Flight — Travis County’s aerial emergency medical service — she quickly showed her passion for serving others and her commitment to her crew, her colleagues said.
“I remember thinking, what a delightful person with such a personality and zeal,” said Danny Hobby, Travis County emergency services executive, remembering the eagerness McLain showed the first time they met.
When McLain’s supervisor Chris Postiglione approached the church’s podium in his blue flight suit, his voice started breaking. He said that it was difficult to explain how hard it was to lose McLain and that it took him several days to write some memories about her on the piece of paper he was holding Friday.
Like others at the memorial, he remembered her tenacity fondly.
“The hard part with Kristin was not getting her to do stuff; it was getting her to stop,” Postiglione said.
He said McLain was always ready to go the extra mile to help patients and constantly encouraged him and other colleagues to work harder.
“She was the Lt. Dan to my Forrest Gump,” Postiglione said."I hope I don’t let her down.”
Casey Ping, STAR Flight’s program manager, remembered how McLain always pushed herself to be the best.
“Kristin was very focused, and if you were in her way, you’d better look out,” he said.
McLain died Monday after a STAR Flight crew was sent at 8:25 p.m. to rescue a woman who had fallen on the Barton Creek Greenbelt, officials have said.
McLain, who was one of three people aboard the EC-145 helicopter, helped secure the injured woman to a hoist system and fell from the helicopter sometime during the rescue, Austin-Travis County EMS Chief Ernesto Rodriguez said Wednesday.
Officials said the reason she fell from the helicopter’s hoist is still unclear.
Earlier this week, an investigator with the the National Transportation Safety Board was in Austin as part of an inquiry into the circumstances that led to McLain’s death. The investigator examined the safety equipment on the aircraft, looked into McLain’s last 72 work hours and conducted interviews.
Officials said the preliminary report on McLain’s death will be released in five to 10 days. However, the full investigation could take up to a year, they said.
©2015 Austin American-Statesman, Texas