POMPANO BEACH, FLA. (WSVN) - Terran Vandiver and his siblings are sifting through the remnants of their lives, recovering cherished belongings that once belonged to their late mother. These trinkets, although charred and damaged, serve as reminders of their family’s resilience.
A family is grateful to be alive after a Broward Sheriff Fire Rescue (BSFR) helicopter crashed into their apartment complex. On Aug. 28, a BSFR helicopter caught fire, lost control and plummeted into an apartment building in Pompano Beach, which killed a BSFR Battalion Chief and a woman who lived next door to the Vandivers.
On Tuesday night, the Broward County Board of Commissioners voted unanimously to allocate funding for a new BSFR helicopter.
That same morning, a restoration crew was at the apartment complex one day after the brothers described the moments after the helicopter crashed. The Vandiver brothers returned to the crash site, hoping to retrieve any salvageable items from their home.
“We got it for her for Mother’s Day,” said Vandiver as he showed off an elephant sculpture.
Another sculpture he showed off symbolizes his mother.
“A lot of it is burned. It used to be black and gold but it represented our mother she was a queen. [She] taught us a lot about survival and getting through it,” said Vandiver.
Vandiver and his family spoke to 7News on Monday where they expressed their gratitude for being alive after they made a miraculous escape from their apartment.
“If you get a good look at the home, it looks like a bomb went off in it, and that’s how we felt, and the reality of it, vehicles falling out of the sky, and it caused the reality of where we are homeless right now,” Vandiver said in Monday’s interview.
Although Vandiver is dealing with hardships, a blessing was discovered in the demolished apartment: the urns of both their late mother and late brother were retrieved damaged, but intact.
The Vandivers are immensely grateful for their survival. They have been staying in a hotel since the devastating crash.
Now, as restoration crews work diligently on the property, they are slowly moving forward, embracing the strength needed to rebuild their lives.
“It’s a whole process what we’re going through,” expressed Vandiver. “Seeing what we can find, knowing what we have to let go, but what we can get, we’re fortunate.”
BSO also told 7News that they’ve been able to assist the family with hotels for the past several days.
Anyone who has been touched by the Vandivers story is encouraged to visit the family’s GoFundMe page.
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