Las Vegas Sun

March 29, 2024

Nurse killed in crash dedicated to kids, work

Ana Coburn did not like traveling in cars or in planes, but the Las Vegas registered nurse felt at home in a medical helicopter with an experienced pilot at the stick.

The 30-year-old native Nevadan, who seven years ago earned her nursing degree at the Community College of Southern Nevada, responded to many serious accidents and had a reputation for keeping her her cool under pressure.

But let her come home from such life-or-death work and find that her children -- 9-year-old Cameo and 5-year-old Kyler -- had not been fed or were not in bed on time, and she would blow her top.

"My daughter loved her job helping people, she loved being in that helicopter, and everything she did in life centered around her children," said Cheryl Noriega, who on Aug. 14 resigned her post as a White Pine County commissioner to move to Las Vegas and help her daughter raise the kids.

Coburn was one of three people killed Saturday morning when their Mercy Air Service helicopter en route to an auto accident crashed off Interstate 15 across the Nevada-California border.

"Ana knew the risks of her job," Noriega said. "She lived every moment of her life to its fullest, and we will carry on as a family, as she would have wanted us to do."

Also killed Saturday were Coburn's friends and co-workers, Kalaya Jarbsunthie, 31, a paramedic from Las Vegas, and pilot Marshall Butler, 46, of Pahrump. No patients were on board.

A memorial service has tentatively been scheduled for Saturday at Cashman Center, Mercy Air spokeswoman Lee Haney said.

The air ambulance company brought in pilots from California to cover shifts Monday and part of today while employees were offered grief counseling, she added. Las Vegas crews were expected to resume their shifts today.

The National Transportation and Safety Board, called a news conference for today to talk about its investigation into why the aircraft crashed.

Coburn's family said Coburn was on call Labor Day but did not go to work because the Bell 222 rescue helicopter was down for repairs -- the same craft that crashed Saturday, they said.

Tony Renner, Coburn's boyfriend and a former pilot for Valley Hospital's Flight For Life helicopter, went to the site of Saturday's crash and talked with an NTSB investigator. He believes a mechanical problem caused the accident.

"It looks like something broke," said Renner, who met Coburn when both worked aboard the same helicopter.

"The last call Marshall made (to dispatchers) was when they were three miles out, which is procedure. Then the helicopter turned back toward Primm, made a right turn of about 90 degrees and crashed 300 yards off the highway. Marshall may have seen something was wrong and tried to make it to Primm."

Renner called Butler a "thorough, thoughtful and safe person."

The helicopter made no distress call, but Renner said in emergency situations helicopter pilots do not always have time to make such a call.

Ana Coburn first got interested in being an emergency medical technician when Don Coburn, a former Ely sheriff's deputy and EMT, taught a class that she attended. They later married.

"She fell in love with the idea of being an EMT and it blossomed from there," said Coburn, who was married to Ana for seven years and is the father of their children. They divorced in 1999 but have remained friends.

Coburn, who now is a Clark County Animal Control officer, said a minute has not passed that he has not thought about how he will raise their children and things like how he will pay for Cameo's gymnastics classes or for Kyler's karate lessons.

"No one will ever replace Ana as their mother," Don said. "She would take extra shifts just to get the children things they wanted or needed."

Coburn apparently won't be alone in his efforts.

Renner says he has been asked by the family to remain a part of the children's lives and says he plans to assist in whatever way he can.

Noriega says her role in helping to raise the children also has greatly expanded. Her husband, Antonio Noriega, is expected to retire soon from an Ely mining business and join the family in Las Vegas.

Coburn was born Ana Marie Noriega on March 2, 1972, in Ely. As a youngster she dreamed of one day being an interior decorator. In recent months, she and her mother have been decorating a northwest Las Vegas home they were to share.

Coburn was a 1990 graduate of White Pine High School. While studying to be an EMT, she worked at an Ely pharmacy and later was a volunteer for White Pine County Ambulance Service.

The Coburns moved to Las Vegas in 1994. When Valley Hospital sold Flight for Life to Mercy Air a year ago, Ana took a job at an Arizona medical helicopter firm. Earlier this year she joined Mercy Air, which is based in Fontana, Calif., and operates 11 helicopters in Southern Nevada and California.

In addition to her parents and children, Coburn is survived by three brothers, Jose Noriega, 32, Juan Noriega, 31, and Antonio Noriega Jr., 20.

Services for Coburn in Las Vegas and in Ely are pending.

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