Family reeling as 1 dead, 1 critical from plane crash
Patrick Landis — paralyzed and semiconscious in his hospital bed — may still not know that his brother died after their plane crashed Friday, as they flew to spread their father’s ashes over a cranberry bog in their hometown of Hanson.
“We’re not sure how much he remembers right now,” sister Chelsea Landis told the Herald. “He’s just so frustrated that he can’t talk.”
The 29-year-old has been in and out of consciousness at Tufts Medical Center, his family said, and may never walk again.
Patrick’s older brother Scott Landis, an Army National Guard aviator who was a veteran of Iraq and Afghanistan, was piloting the single-engine plane when it lost power on takeoff and crashed. Scott, a husband and father, died the next day.
Family members later learned from witnesses that they could hear Patrick shouting for help, according to their aunt, Marie Conway Real.
“That’s what my sister is dealing with, is the image that he’s awake alert and understands what just happened and is yelling for help and he’s probably trying to get his brother to respond and he’s not responding. My sister is really, really upset,” Real said, referring to the Landis brothers’ mother.
“She’s doing as well as can be expected,” Real said. “She’s focusing on Patrick right now. That’s what’s keeping her sane. If she lets herself think about Scotty she loses it . ... She was devoted to her kids, and he was her firstborn.”
Patrick is suffering from several injuries, including two broken collarbones, a sternum broken in two places, a fractured vertebra, two collapsed lungs, a ruptured spleen, a broken leg and a deep gash to his head.
“Patrick is the survivor. He’s got years of recovery,” Real said.
The surgeon who worked on Patrick told the family that if he were going to walk again he most likely would have moved his legs by now.
“Patrick’s still with us, so we need to focus on that and figure out where we need to go from here,” Chelsea said. “It’s awful, but I know that it can’t be changed.”
Patrick was honored when his 34-year-old brother asked him to fly with him after their father lost his battle with lung cancer. The rest of the family was planning to take video from the ground.
“His mother said it was the first true smile she had seen on his face in a long time,” Real said.
Both Patrick’s mother and his twin brother, Peter, are having a particularly hard time with his critical condition, they said.
But Real said Patrick’s twin told her that he’d even “carry him on his back if he had to.”
Real recently set up a GoFundMe page for Patrick, under his name, where friends, family and even strangers posted get-well messages, and the family is hoping to raise at least $50,000 for his medical bills.
Their father’s ashes were recovered from the site of the crash unopened, and many of Scott’s pilot friends are making plans to scatter the ashes the way their dad wanted them to.
Scott Landis’ wake is planned for 4 p.m. to 8 p.m. Thursday at the Sullivan Funeral Home in Hanson. His funeral will be held Friday at Fern Hill Cemetery.