Plane Crash Survivor Returns To Little Rock Site For First Time In 12 Years
Quintin Salmond of Prosper, Texas, wants to seek closure, honor those who lost their lives in the crash, and thank hospital workers who helped save his life.
Online, November 23, 2011 (Newswire.com) - If Quintin Salmond Lived By Normal Standards, He'd Be Six Feet Under, Buried In His Favorite Armani Suit In A Plush Casket.
Few men have cheated death as often as Quintin Salmond has in his 50 years:
• When he rode his bike off the roof of a 2-story building - to see if he could out-jump his best friend - 8-year-old Quintin was badly bruised but still alive.
• When he was shot at during a drug deal in Los Angeles - after trying to buy $200 worth of cocaine - all of his car windows had been shattered. But Quintin drove away without a scratch on his body.
• And when American Airlines Flight 1420 crashed in Little Rock, Ark., on June 1, 1999, Quintin survived that as well, but just barely: He had 50-plus injuries, a broken neck, severe nerve damage and was unable to walk. Fourteen surgeries later, he was back on his feet but a changed man.
Now, in the 12 years since the plane crash, Quintin returns to Little Rock for the first time, to seek closure and to thank hospital employees who helped save his life.
"I've had lot of psychological help in the past decade, but I still wake up in the middle of the night screaming," Quintin says. "Every year, on June 1, I don't want to go anywhere because I'm afraid something might happen to me.
Instead of continuing to sweep this incident under the rug, I'm ready to deal with it," he says. "My return to Little Rock is a way of facing my tragedy in hope for healing. "
Quintin will also honor those who lost their lives and thank the Baptist Health Medical Center employees who took care of him while he was there. "I want to thank each and every one of them," he says.
WHAT: Quintin returns to Little Rock for the first time since the crash to:
(1) seek closure;
(2) honor those who lost their lives in the crash;
(3) thank Baptist Health Medical Center employees who helped save his life
WHEN: Saturday, Dec. 3-Monday, Dec. 5, 2011
Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011
3 p.m. - Quintin will give a short speech at a gathering of Flight 1420
survivors at the 1420 Memorial Site-Aerospace Education Center,
3301 E. Roosevelt Road, Little Rock
5 p.m. - Reception for Flight 1420 survivors, Riverfront Steakhouse, inside
the Wyndham Hotel, 2 Riverfront Place, North Little Rock
6 p.m. - Dinner, Riverfront Steakhouse
Sunday, Dec. 4, 2011
10 a.m. - Church service, Rufus K. Young Christian Church, 2100 Main St.,
Little Rock. Reception follows. Quintin will give a short speech during the
church service.
Monday Dec. 5, 2011
11 a.m.-2 p.m. - Visitation at Baptist Health Medical Center,
9601 Interstate 630, Little Rock
To schedule an interview, please contact Quintin at (909) 772-6477 or quintin@quintinsalmond.com