WASHINGTON — How do you pick up pieces of a shattered life after losing a wife and two young children? After a deadly plane crash in his Gaithersburg home last December, Ken Gemmell says he’s moving forward for his surviving daughter.
In an exclusive interview with NBC Washington, Ken says he and his 7-year-old child, Arabelle need to persevere to honor Marie, Cole and Devin – Ken’s 36-year-old wife and two children, 3 years old and 7 weeks old, respectively.
“I’ve told my daughter, ‘We don’t want to let this completely defeat us. We don’t want this to, you know, define our lives,’” Ken tells NBC Washington Reporter Angie Goff.
On Dec. 8, a small plane catapulted into the home on Drop Forge Lane –less than a mile from the Montgomery County Airpark — killing the members of the Gemmell family as well as three people in the plane.
Ken and second grader Arabelle won’t be returning to their home. It has been torn down.
Thinking about that fateful day when his wife Marie died cradling their sons as their home filled with smoke and flames — Ken says Marie was a hero.
“I knew she was trying to do everything she could to keep them, and keep them calm and try to save them if it was possible,” Ken said. “…[T]o make sure it wasn’t painful for them.”
It’s a loss no person should ever endure. That’s what Ken wrote on his Facebook page the day after what he calls “a horrific event.”
Since that fateful day, Ken and Arabelle have received generous support from the community. A Go Fund Me page has raised nearly $500,000 and they were treated to a playoff game by the family’s beloved Denver Broncos.
Ken tells NBC Washington those gestures can be difficult to accept.
“Because it’s overwhelming. I think more of — we’re only here because of what happened. And to me that hurts a little bit. But, to see my daughter smile at those events — it’s really cool.”
When the wing of a twin engine jet slammed into the Gemmell’s home Dec. 8, the crash also killed three men on the plane from Raleigh, North Carolina.
The National Transportation Safety Board continues to investigate the cause of the crash.
Watch the full report on NBC Washington:
WTOP’s Kristi King contributed to this report.
