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Pilot injured in HPD helicopter crash was a hero during Hurricane Harvey
Chase Cormier is a U.S. Army veteran who served in Afghanistan and was hailed as a hero in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
HOUSTON — Senior Police Officer Chase Cormier, the pilot injured in an HPD helicopter crash, remains in critical condition at Memorial Hermann Hospital.
Cormier’s wife Brooke said he broke his back in the crash and suffered several other injuries.
“We are going to have a long, hard road of rehab ahead of us in hopes of getting him to walk but if anyone can get through this, it’s him,” she posted on Facebook.
Brooke also asked for prayers for the wife and children of Officer Jason Knox who died in the crash.
Chase Cormier has been with HPD since 2006 and is assigned to the Air & Marine Division.
Like thousands of other first responders, Cormier was a hero in the aftermath of Hurricane Harvey.
The U.S. Army veteran, who served in Afghanistan, helped coordinate logistics for the U.S. Coast Guard as they rescued hundreds of Harvey victims along the Texas Gulf Coast.
He also coordinated Operation Barbecue Relief with chefs all over the country who fed first responders and victims. They were delivering 35,000 meals a day, according to HPOU.
For his tireless efforts, Cormier was among the first responders treated by Mattress Mack to an all-expense paid trip to Los Angeles for Game 6 of the 2017 World Series.
“We were treated like royalty,” Cormier told HPOU’s Jim Kennedy. “The experience – being able to experience that with fellow first responders and veterans – was really the best part of it.”
Hours after the crash, Houston Police Chief Art Acevedo asked for prayers for Cormier. The credited him with saving lives on the ground by coming down in an unoccupied area of a north Houston apartment complex.
The cause of the crash is under investigation.