Texas Rescuers Pay Tribute to Fallen Medic

MARBLE FALLS - A long line of ambulances, fire trucks and police cars raced down Texas 71 with a hearse in the center. On the sides of the road, police officers stopped and put their hats over their hearts while an Oak Hill Fire Department truck extended its ladder over the highway as a salute to a fallen comrade.

These were among the ways Central Texas' emergency services community said farewell to one of their own Friday morning.

Eric Hanson, 26, died Tuesday morning after the Marble Falls Area Emergency Medical Services ambulance he was driving and a pickup collided on Texas 71.

The driver of the pickup, Troy McVey, a father of two who moved here from California, also was killed. McVey's funeral also was held in Marble Falls on Friday.

Hanson's funeral illustrated the close-knit nature of both the town of Marble Falls and the community of Texas public safety workers.

"When one of us goes down, we all feel it," said Walter Martin, a paramedic at the Granite Shoals Fire Department, where Hanson worked part time a few days a week. "Eric really did his job well. He was a good kid and was as serious about it as he could be."

More than 100 uniformed public safety officers attended Hanson's funeral, most of them wearing black stripes on their badges and flowers on their lapels.

Ambulances and fire trucks from Burnet, Travis and Williamson counties, including the Cedar Park, Pedernales, Hudson Bend, Granite Shoals and Cottonwood Shores agencies, participated in the procession of flashing emergency lights that took Hanson to be buried at Lakeland Hills Memorial Park..

David Popoff, the fire marshal for Marble Falls, said emergency workers from Bulverde-Spring Branch and Travis and Williamson counties covered the town while its EMS unit had the day off for the funeral.

"This is how public safety people put closure on a tragedy," Popoff said. "We know that this could be any one of us at a moment's notice."

Michael Storbo, who worked at Marble Falls EMS with Hanson, described him as "the patient advocate."

"He always put the patient's welfare first, above anyone else's opinions or traffic or anything," Storbo said. "He always acted in their best interest."

Hanson's flag-draped casket was carried out of the Marble Falls EMS station and into an ambulance, accompanied by an honor guard and a bagpipe player. Three helicopters circled as the procession made its way to the cemetery, where Hanson was given a three-volley salute.

A large group of children gathered by the fence at Marble Falls Elementary School and saluted the funeral procession, holding up signs that read "We love our EMS."

"It's one of the beauties of living in a small town," Marble Falls Mayor Raymond Whitman said. "We're a very tight-knit community, and when something happens, everyone offers an outpouring of support."

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