After Jane

By Ginny Privitar
GOSHEN — Erik Unhjem often listened to audiobooks while bicycling on the Heritage Trail. In early August 2012 he had just finished listening to "Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience and Redemption." It tells the story of Louis Zamperini, an Olympic runner, World War II bombardier, and Japanese prisoner of war camp survivor. Little did he know how much that book would help him through the horrific tragedy soon to strike.

On Aug. 19, two weeks after finishing the book, Erik and his wife, Jane, went to a Long Island airport to check out a single-engine plane, a Socato TB9 Tampico Socata TB10 Tobago, that Erik had dreamed of purchasing. He wanted to review the plane’s log books, which contain maintenance records. But the owner/pilot insisted they take a test flight first.

In a few short minutes, the plane crashed and burst into flames, killing the pilot, mortally wounding Jane, and burning Erik over two-thirds of his body.

According to a National Transportation Safety Board report and witness accounts, the plane was slow and “anemic,” using almost the entire 4,000-foot runway to become airborne. It climbed above the trees in the nearby neighborhood of Shirley. One resident said the plane descended over his backyard in a 30-degree bank, then pitched up, climbed over the house, and struck a tree and a construction dumpster in front of the house, where it caught fire. He and other neighbors rushed to the scene to help.

Erik and Jane were both on fire.

“I got her out," Erik said. "I had burns but no other injuries.”

Later he learned that Jane also had extensive internal injuries and a broken pelvis.

“Like a good Boy Scout, I stopped, dropped and rolled, and rolled Jane to put the flames out," he said. "I dragged her away from the plane and waited on a nearby driveway. Help arrived in minutes.”

Dodging the question
First Jane, then Erik, were taken to Stony Brook University Hospital, five minutes away by helicopter. Erik said that was part of the miracle of his recovery, because Stony Brook has one of the best burn units in the region.

In the ER, Erik asked about Jane, but medical personnel only told him they would try to find out.

“As I was in the ER in the depths of my own personal hell and in incredible pain, I was thinking of Lou Zamperini and thinking, “if he could endure what he had to, I could get through this.”

Doctors told the couple’s adult children, Gayle and Matthew, that Erik probably wouldn’t survive, and that he had less than a 30 percent chance of living through the first 48 hours. If he did survive, they expected him to be hospitalized for anywhere from six to nine months.

That time was especially difficult for his children, Erick said. Jane fought to live for about eight hours but died on the operating table. Doctors did not tell Erik, but he suspected the worst. The helicopter crew took her to the hospital first and then came back for him. He knew her injuries were more severe.

After he was moved to intensive care, he could not speak because he was intubated. He would spell words out with his fingers in the air.

“How is mom?” he'd asked his family. They dodged the question.

He suspected Jane had died. Three or four days after the accident, his family confirmed his fears.

Jane was his college sweetheart. His children had lost their mother. The community had lost a beloved friend and educator. Jane was the assistant superintendent for curriculum and instruction at Goshen Central School.

“For the first month I was still in the hospital, I was totally focused on my own recovery," he said. "I tried to shut out everything else, but then when I got home I grieved intensely.”

A will to live
Erik had a daunting road ahead of him. He had about eight skin grafts. Doctors used skin from his upper thighs, which were left miraculously unburned. His hair and his eyelashes were completely burned off but grew back. At one point doctors feared he might lose his ears, but they, too, healed.

“I had something of a miraculous recovery," he said.

He was released from the hospital in just 26 days.

The doctors would later point to three factors that influenced his recovery. "I was in pretty good health, and excellent physical condition, biking 100 miles a week," he said. "And my will to live. And I’ll credit the book 'Unbroken' for that determination — the will to live.”

When he returned home, his sister-in-law, Grete Unhjem, was his home health aide. She tended to his wounds and bandages twice daily.

Gradually, happiness in the simple pleasures of life returned.

“I marveled at hearing the birds, seeing the sun and going for a walk," he said. "Having been that close to death, it gives you a better appreciation for life."

Independence regained
Today, Erik is able to manage by himself.

Since the accident, rather than commute, Erik has been working from home. For many years he has overseen global production of e-books for Pearson, an education services company, in Upper Saddle River, N.J. Previously he owned a photography business in Middletown and was vice president of the Middletown Business Improvement District. For many years, he and Jane were active members of the Goshen and Middletown Rotaries.

While in the hospital, and for a few weeks after his release, Erik was on pain medication, so the Federal Aviation Administration asked him to surrender his medical clearance for flight. Erik asked the FAA to reconsider, and finally, they returned it. He went back up in the air with an instructor about eight months after the accident and has been flying since.

In order to fly, a pilot needs a license, which never expires, and a current physical exam every six months.

A little over a year ago, Erik went to a wound/burn conference sponsored by The Phoenix Society.

"It was a very humbling experience because it made you realize all the more how miraculous my survival and recovery were," he said. "I saw a lot of people disabled and injured with horrific burns, without faces and without limbs.”

Today, no more operations are necessary, but he still needs continuing treatment. Most of the scars have disappeared. He refers to his mottled skin as "camouflage skin," but says it’s all smooth.

“I’m still going to a massage therapist for two years now," he said. "It’s not pleasant like a normal massage. It’s a painful massage to break scar tissue lose from the flesh underneath it. And for a year I’ve been going to a dermatologist who works on my scars with lasers and injections.”

Erik remains active: he biked 2,000 miles this past summer alone. And he still enjoys flying.

“I'm no more anxious than any pilot at any time,” he said. He quoted a favorite line from author Antoine de Saint-Exupéry: “I fly because it frees my mind from the tyranny of petty things.”

Still unbroken
Last fall the Orange County Library Association chose Laura Hillenbrand’s best-seller "Unbroken" as the featured book for its countywide reading initiative and discussions. It held a "Run the Runway 5K" at Montgomery airport as a kickoff to honor Zamperini as a runner and airman/flight crew member. Erik volunteered his services as a course assistant at the event. You can see Erik's story in his own words on the “I am Unbroken” website (www.iamunbroken.com).

Erik established a scholarship fund to honor his wife. Donations may be made to the Jane Unhjem Memorial Scholarship, care of Community Foundation of Orange and Sullivan (http://cfoc-ny.org/). Two scholarships have already been awarded, and the selection process will soon begin for the third.