A dentist from Iowa City, IA, is being hailed as a hero after he interrupted a surgical procedure to rescue a woman and her toddler when their plane crashed across the street from his office, according to a story in the Iowa City Press-Citizen.
The plane had just taken off from the Iowa City Airport en route to Decatur, AL, to take the mother and her 2-year-old daughter home. Lanny Kampfe, D.D.S., said he was in the middle of performing a root canal when he "heard what sounded like a tornado [and] saw debris and grass blowing up the street."
After instructing his staff to call 911, Dr. Kampfe ran outside to help, he told the Press-Citizen. He found the pilot of the plane unconscious and the passenger holding her child, who was covered with blood. He then helped police remove the child from the plane and began performing CPR on her.
Although Dr. Kampfe was able to revive her, the 2-year-old later died at a local hospital.
"The guy's a hero," Lenni Kangas, the patient whose root canal was interrupted, told the Press-Citizen.
