Peers remember medical professional who died in helicopter crash

Diana Conner loved helping people.

And she spent as much time as possible doing so, according to those who knew her and loved her.

“She had a touch, a way with people,” Williamsburg County EMS Director Renee Bryant said. “I think there are special people put here on earth and called to do these things. Helping people is what Diana was called to do.”

Conner, 42, of Florence, was one of three medical professionals killed Friday night when their helicopter flight crashed in Georgetown County while enroute from Charleston to its base in Conway.

Conner not only worked as a flight nurse with OmniFlight but also as a paramedic with Williamsburg County EMS and an emergency room nurse at Williamsburg Regional Hospital.

“She was with us as a full-time paramedic for awhile, but it was her lifelong dream to be a flight nurse,” Bryant said. “So when she was offered the job with OmniFlight, she was thrilled. She was finally living out her dream, and she died doing what she loved.”

Though flying was a passion of Conner’s, Bryant said helping people was what drove her personally and professionally.

“She devoted her life to emergency medicine, and she was so intelligent and knew her job well,” Bryant said. “She was so enthusiastic and loved making a difference in people’s lives. She had a ton of energy. Any life she touched, it was a blessing. She was truly loved in this community. We’ve suffered a huge loss, and our prayers and thoughts are with her family. It’s just a very, very sad time here.”

Conner’s coworkers at Williamsburg Regional Hospital in Kingstree, where she’d worked in the emergency room for four years, are still reeling from her death, Williamsburg Regional Emergency Room Director Chris Davis said.

“We have a very small staff here, so everybody works together and everybody knows who everybody else is,” said Davis, who also previously worked with Conner at McLeod Regional Medical Center in Florence.

“She was very well liked and known here. Even when she wasn’t working here in the ER, we saw her almost everyday because she was coming in on the ambulance or on the med-flight,” he said. “This is a small family here at the hospital, and this is a tremendous loss for our hospital family. We’re still getting over the initial shock of it.”

Davis said Conner was a hard worker, extremely dedicated to her profession, and also a good friend to all she knew. In her spare time, Davis said, she enjoyed spending time with her children and friends. She also loved NASCAR racing and was a hardcore Tony Stewart fan, Davis said.

“She was so full of life, and I hope that’s how she will be remembered,” Davis said. “She loved people, and she loved life.”

Prior to her work in Williamsburg County, Conner also worked as a paramedic with Medstar Ambulance Service in Florence. Medstar owner Tommy Jones said she was a stellar employee and always went above and beyond to help people.

“She was a hard, hard worker,” Jones said.

“She’d work 80 or 100 hours a week if you’d let her. Anytime you needed her, she was there. You could call her and ask her to come in and she’d always say, ‘Yep. Give me 10 or 15 minutes, and I’ll be there,’” he said. “She was just an awesome, awesome nurse and medic. A great person with a great personality.”

Jones said he remembers discussing flying with Conner, because it was an interest the two shared.

“She always wanted to fly. We had that in common. She always said that was her pipe dream — to be a flight nurse and flight paramedic. She accomplished that dream, and I know she was loving every minute of it.”