Oct 16, 2008 6:30 pm US/Central
Tiny Helicopter Crash Victim Was Suffering Seizure
Family Friends: Seizures Started When Kirstian Blockinger Was 5 Months Old
LELAND, Ill. (CBS) ―
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Kirstian Blockinger died late Wednesday when a helicopter transporting her to a Chicago hospital crashed in Aurora.
Kirstian Blockinger's family walked Thursday afternoon to the site of her death. They offered condolences to families of the other three victims, while grieving themselves.
"We love Kirstian and celebrate her life, however short," her grandfather, Steve Ogletree, said. "We ask for privacy to mourn our loss at this time."
Family members say Kirstian had been suffering seizures since she was 5 months old. Several emergency trips to the hospital followed, but her condition was never as serious as it was Wednesday night, family friends said.
The 14-month-old girl was being airlifted to Children's Memorial Hospital to treat her latest seizure when the helicopter she was in crashed in Aurora, killing the infant patient and the three men in the helicopter trying to save her.
"She's been transported to different hospitals before, but from my understanding, this is the first time she's been airlifted," said Don Hecathorn, chief of the volunteer fire department in Leland, Ill., Kirstian's hometown.
The firefighters and paramedics in the town of 960 people knew the little girl well -- and not just from the hospital transports over the past year.
Her father, Robbie Blockinger, and grandfather, Glenn Blockinger, are volunteer firefighters at the department, Hecathorn said.
"Very good people," he said. "You couldn't ask for better people." Robbie joined the department right out of high school, following in the footsteps of his father, who has been a volunteer for more than a decade.
Robbie is currently on leave from the department because he's in the National Guard, Hecathorn said. At the time of the accident, he was training in Kansas in preparation for his second deployment to Iraq.
"He'd already done one tour of duty, then he was home, and then he went back," Hecathorn said. "He was to ship out to Iraq soon, but a couple of weeks ago she had some medical problems."
Kirstian's mother was home at the time of Wednesday's seizures. Paramedics were called to their Railroad Avenue home at about 8:30 p.m., and Kirstian was rushed to Valley West Hospital before being airlifted, Hecathorn said.
The cause of her seizures has not been disclosed.
On Thursday, Kirstian's 2-year-old brother was being watched by friends.
CBS 2's Dana Kozlov and the STNG Wire contributed to this report.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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