Independence soldier hurt in Afghanistan crash returning to duty

Army Capt. Erick McFerran, an Independence native injured in an April 9 helicopter crash that killed four of his comrades in Afghanistan, is expected to return to duty in a few days, according to his mother, Barb McFerran of Independence.

Capt. McFerran, 28, a 2000 graduate of Independence High School and a 2004 graduate of the University of Iowa, escaped serious injury when the CV-22 Osprey crashed with 20 aboard in southern Afghanistan.

The military said three service members and a civilian contractor were killed in the first crash of the costly tilt-rotor aircraft in a combat zone.

McFerran said her son told her the helicipter catapulted upon impact and pinned him upside down in the wreckage.

The former ambulance driver and paramedic was freed in time to help stablize some of his most gravely injured comrades, she said.

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• April 12:

PREVIOUS COVERAGE

• April 12: Independence soldier hurt in Osprey crash in Afghanistan