Hero's selfless final act offers some solace

There should be no such thing as tiny white caskets.

No one should ever have to sing "Jesus Loves Me This I Know" unless putting little sleepy heads to bed for the night.

Certainly it shouldn't be played by a church organ while mommies and daddies are crying in the front pew.

Children should not die, babies especially. My guess is that's exactly what paramedic Ron Battiato was thinking when the medical helicopter he was riding in last week struck an Aurora radio tower and began hurtling toward the ground in an orange ball of flames.

In that instant, the Peotone father threw himself across Kirstin Blockinger's little body -- lying on a stretcher and connected to life-saving tubes -- to protect his patient as much as humanly possible from the impending impact.

Officials told Kirstin's family that Battiato more than likely performed this heroic act because the child's body was the only one of the four victims recovered from the crash site still intact and unburned.

Brooke Blockinger visited the crash site that first day after the tragedy -- despite the swarm of media that awaited the family's press conference -- because she needed "to see where my baby had died."

Clutching her daughter's brown teddy bear, the grieving mom dropped roses on the ground. And when she stood up, she could feel Kirstin's presence.

"Her hand was squeezing my arm," said the 24-year-old mother. "That when I knew that no matter how badly my heart was breaking, everything was OK."

Still, Brooke went back again the next day to the marshy field off Eola Road. This time, the visit was more private, and she had more time to explore. That's when she found the spot, along with the clip from Battiato's cell phone and a piece of his helmet.

They were found next to each other, about 15 feet from the wreckage.

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Kirstin, born on her father Rob's birthday, arrived two months early. At three months, she only weighed six pounds. It was obvious early on there were developmental delays, but the real problems began in January with the seizures. First, they would come once a week; gradually, escalating to multiple times daily.

Doctors told the couple it was hard for Kirstin's tiny body to take such a beating. Ambulance transports became a way of life; and two weeks ago she was airlifted to Central DuPage Hospital by Air Angels.

Doctors put her into a coma and on a ventilator.

The little girl continued to fight back.

Last Wednesday, the seizures returned with a vengeance. Only, this night, the beds at Central DuPage were full and the crew was told to take the patient on to Chicago.

"She's always had trouble tracking with her eyes," says Brooke. "But as they were strapping her in, I couldn't believe how she would watch (Ron Battiato). Usually she would only follow me like that. But this night, she couldn't take her eyes off of him."

Brooke raced to Children's Memorial Hospital alone; husband Rob was in Fort Riley, Kansas, preparing to ship out for a second tour of duty. She's a strong woman, especially for her age. That night, she would have to become even stronger.

"At first, they just told me there had been an accident," she recalls. "Then later they told me there had been no survivors, but I already knew ... I already knew."

Visiting the crash site was only one piece of the closure this young mother needed after the tragedy: The other was seeing her baby daughter one more time.

"My husband was against it. He said it would haunt me. But she's my baby. I had to."

Brooke kissed Kirstin's battered but still beautiful body. She held her daughter's hand one more time.

And someday soon she wants to meet Ron Battiato's family so she can tell them none of this would have been possible if not for his final selfless act.

"He truly was her angel," she says.

• Photos: Kirstin laid to rest
• Photos: Workers fix radio tower
• Photos: Copter crash probe begins
• Photos: Family's mourning begins
• Photos: The victims
• Photos: Crash scene

• Twitter: Latest developments

• Map: Crash site

Tuesday stories

• Tears, rain fall as tiny crash victim buried 
• Flight nurse a hero: 'Gave his life for little baby'
• Hero's selfless final act offers some solace'

Monday stories

• NTSB gets surveillance video
• Leland girl killed in crash laid to rest

Sunday stories

• Close-knit town asks to mourn in private
• Work finishes on damaged radio tower

Saturday stories

• Tower work complete, residents may return
• In wind, rain, workers chop up radio tower
• Radio tower well-known to local pilots

Friday stories

• Radio tower dismantled after helicopter crash
• Family of tiniest victim mourns flight crew
• Helicopter crash probe could take months
• Residents evacuating apartments near tower
• Witnesses describe the fiery crash
• Air Angels: 'We look at what's best for the patient'
• FAA under pressure to improve safety for EMS flights
• Crash turns focus on air transport safety
• Helicopter crew remembered as heroes
• Shock settles on emergency response crews

Thursday stories

• Aurora helicopter crash kills Air Angels crew, child
• Friends speak of Air Angels crew's dedication
• Witness: Debris rained down from the sky
• NTSB investigating cause of crash
• Police ask residents near crash to evacuate
• Last Air Angels crash in Fox Valley 5 years ago