Plane crash survivor graduates from Lynchburg College

By Candice Nelson
WSLS10 Reporter
Published: May 10, 2008

There are more than 500 graduates this year at Lynchburg College, each with a story of his or her own. Jason Early’s is about tragedy and strength after surviving a plane crash that killed his father Brian Early.

“I remember it all, the whole night,” Jason Early said.

Also surviving the crash was his friend and basketball teammate, Sean Sutherland.

“Sean got on the phone and got the rescuers there,” Early said.

Luckily, he was still able to walk at graduation.

“I broke both of my legs, femurs. Cracked a knee cap, cracked pelvis, hip. And I broke my hand.”

He said he’s still going through therapy at home, but the college worked with him to get through the rest of the year.

‘Helped us make sure I was down here today and able to graduate on time. I didn’t want to come back next fall and clean it up that way. But they made it very easy for us,” he said.

For his aunt and uncle and his mother, they were all there to celebrate with front-row seats at the graduation.

As for playing anymore basketball, Jason said, “We’ll see. Certainly recovery’s going good and we’re a lot farther than we thought originally.”

He said he’ll continue his recovery this summer so he can begin a career in the fall.

Early graduated with a B.A. in Communication Studies with an emphasis in public relations and journalism.