Dad of Boy Who Protected Sister from Philly Plane Crash Shares Son's First Words After Brain Surgery

Mar. 15, 2025

Andre “Trey” Howard III.Photo:Gofundme

Gofundme

Trey was struck in the head with metal and was taken to Jefferson Torresdale Hospital, where he underwent brain surgery. The young boy’s family was informed that there “was a strong chance he might not survive.”

But miraculously, he woke up and quickly asked about two pressing matters: his sister’s safety and the upcoming Super Bowl between thePhiladelphia Eagles and Kansas City Chiefs.

“He asked me, ‘Daddy, what’s today?’ I was like, ‘Monday.’ ‘OK, wait. We didn’t play yesterday did we?’ ‘No, you didn’t miss the Super Bowl,’ " fatherAndre Howard Jr. told ABC News.

Trey then asked: “Daddy, did I save my sister?”

“It had me crying,” Andre said.

“‘You told us to get down. I was just trying to help my sister … next thing I know, I thought I died,’ " Trey said in the hospital, according to Andre.

Philadelphia plane crash on January 31, 2025.Thomas Hengge/Anadolu via Getty

Thomas Hengge/Anadolu via Getty

At the time of the accident, Trey and his younger siblings, ages 4 and 7, were in the car with their father picking up donuts. “Sounded like a missile was firing bullets, metal at my car, everyone else’s car,” Andre toldABC6. “You see a car on fire, a man walking on fire. It was just crazy.”

But as the debris flew everywhere, Trey told his sister, “ ‘Get down,’ ” Andre recalled. “And he grabs her, I hear the glass shatter. I turn around, there’s a piece of metal sticking out of my son’s head from the plane.”

Andre then tried to stop the bleeding with a pair of used socks and another man’s shirt. The police then rushed the boy and his family to the hospital, where he received emergency surgery.

“They did an A+ job on my son. Praise God, they did a great job,” Andre said of his son’s surgery.

Andre added that “it’s bittersweet” that Trey saved his sister. “I’m glad he listened but that’s my job, not his job, to protect his sister,” Andre said.

A view of the wreckage from a small plane after it crashed in a residential area in the US city of Philadelphia on January 31, 2025.Thomas Hengge/Anadolu via Getty

After Trey woke up, one of his favoriteNBA players, 76ers Tyrese Maxey, paid him a visit at the hospital. “He says thank you to everybody. He cries, ‘Daddy, I’m a celebrity.’ ‘No, you’re bigger than a celebrity. You’re a superhero,'” Andre said.

Trey is now recovering at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.

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source: people.com