A life is being rebuilt: Survivor of copter crash beats odds

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, Jan. 16, 2002 | 8:35 a.m.

When Ester Braun saw her daughter in the burn unit at University Medical Center's trauma center, one of her first thoughts was that doctors had taken her to the wrong patient.

"I don't believe this is my daughter," Braun said Tuesday, recounting in halting English -- which is not her native language -- her experience of about five months ago.

The family held a news conference Tuesday as Chana Daskal -- the lone survivor of a fiery helicopter crash Aug. 10 -- left UMC to continue her rehabilitation.

The crash, 60 miles east of Las Vegas, took the lives of her husband, four friends and the pilot.

Daskal, 25, accompanied by her father, Issac Braun, left Las Vegas on a jet outfitted with medical equipment. She will continue her rehabilitation at the Staten Island University Hospital, not far from her family's Brooklyn, N.Y., home in the Orthodox Jewish community of Seagate.

"I talked to the doctors, and they don't give me a lot of chance of her living. But our holy rabbi says, 'If a sharp knife is in your throat, never give up. Believe in God.' "

Daskal, said Braun, survived because of the medical professionals at UMC, God's help and Daskal's own fierce will.

"They built our Chana back together. She is almost like she was before," Braun said. "She still has a long way to go. They spent day and night with my daughter. Only God can pay them back."

Despite the severity of her injuries, including burns over 80 percent of her body and the amputation of a leg, Daskal is expected to recover, doctors said Tuesday.

"We don't consider patients to be out of the woods until they return home, but Chana's prognosis is good," said Dr. Deborah Kuhls, who led the team that treated Daskal.

In a letter to the community, Daskal thanked everyone, from the paramedics who rescued her from the crash site to UMC's housekeeping staff.

"I want to thank all of the people who are praying for me and for my family because without their prayers this very difficult time would be impossible for me to bear," Daskal said.

The family said their faith in God helped them through the bleakest hours, during a time when Daskal's prognosis was especially grim. Doctors initially gave Daskal a 15 percent chance of survival.

"We were happy for anything we got," said Malky Schlesinger, Daskal's sister. "We saw her alive, and that was all that counted. We didn't care what she looked like. She did survive ... that's what kept us going."

Daskal's strength and determination has amazed even those who know her best. She told her family God had a reason for sparing her life.

"She gave us strength. We thought, 'She'll wake up and she'll be devastated, she'll want to die, look at her, she just lost her husband, she lost her leg, she lost her beauty," said her sister, Rachel Eisdorfer. "Her focus was, 'I want to go home to my kids. I want to be there for them.' " Daskal's sons, 6-year-old Gary Eli and Avi, 8 months, are being cared for by her identical twin sister, Brachy Rosenberg. The children saw their mother for the first time several weeks ago, and photos from the reunion were shown Tuesday. In one shot, Daskal is resting in her hospital bed with a sleeping Avi curled against her chest.

Gary Estandon, the godfather of Daskal's children, called her "the strongest woman I know."

Daskal was overjoyed to finally be heading home to New York, Estandon said. Preparing for the flight, she was "just like the Chana Daskal she was on Aug. 9," he said.

Gary Eli made a card for the UMC staff, adorned with his drawings and family photos. The yellow construction paper reads, "Thank you for taking care of our mommy so that she can take care of us."

Daskal's elder son is keenly aware of his father's absence, Estandon said.

"Gary Eli is quite an extraordinary little child," said a visibly moved Estandon. "He's taken it upon himself to assume the mantle of the man of the family."

The crash is under investigation, and Daskal's attorney has filed a lawsuit against the pilot's estate, the tour operators and companies that make helicopters and engine parts.

The National Transportation Safety Board investigation into the cause of the crash is expected to be completed sometime between mid-February and mid-March, said Jeff Rich, an NTSB investigator assigned to the crash.

Daskal has not spoken with investigators, but Rich said as she was recovering at UMC she was physically unable to answer questions. Investigators say they plan to set up an interview with her in New York.

Daskal told paramedics at the scene on Aug. 10 that the engine wasn't running at the time of the crash.

Reporter Keith Paul contributed to this story.