(Part 1) Flight Nurse Helicopter Crash Survivor Speaks: 90% Burns & a Miracle Recovery — Dave & Amanda Repsher

May 27, 2026

51:03

Episode Description

This is episode one of a two-part series.

Flight nurse Dave Repsher and his wife Amanda — also a nurse — join host Jana Price on Nurse Converse to share one of the most powerful survival stories in nursing.

On July 3rd, 2015, Dave was working a shift on a Flight for Life helicopter when it crashed 32 seconds after takeoff. Covered in jet fuel and on fire, he suffered burns over 90% of his body. The pilot did not survive. Doctors did not expect Dave to make it through the night.

Almost a year later, he walked out of the hospital alive.

Jump Ahead:

02:09 — Introducing Dave and Amanda Repsher

02:53 — Dave's path into nursing: from ski bum to flight nurse

04:29 — Amanda's path: raft guide, EMT, paramedic, ICU nurse

05:58 — How Dave and Amanda met at an ACLS class

06:43 — Setting the scene: July 3rd, 2015, the helicopter crash

27:55 — The lifetime impact of small acts by nurses

30:26 — Arriving at the burn unit in Denver and being let into the "tub room"

34:18 — Severe inhalation injuries and renal failure

35:42 — The everyday battle for survival

37:28 — "The perfect storm of good"

39:08 — Dave wakes up after five and a half months

42:53 — Amanda fills in what really happened: emergent thoracotomy and SVC syndrome

49:58 — Wrap-up and tease for part two

In part one of this incredible two-part conversation, Dave and Amanda walk through the day of the crash, what those first hours in the burn unit looked like, and how Amanda fought to be part of his care team. They share the small moments from nurses — a phone call, a hand on a shoulder, a tech explaining each burn degree — that changed everything. Dave also opens up about what it was like to wake up after five and a half months and beg his wife to let him die, not knowing the medical crisis that had just nearly killed him.

This episode is for every nurse who has ever wondered if the small things they do for patients and families actually matter. They do. Sometimes for a lifetime.

Listen to part one now. Part two coming soon. Learn more at nurse.org/nurseconverse.

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