‘She lit up the room’: Friend, former co-workers remember Niagara nurse on downed medical flight

Hamilton-based Latitude Air Ambulance is revealing more about the crew on board a flight that disappeared off the coast of Massachusetts this past weekend, acknowledging today that their four colleagues are presumed dead.

CHCH News has confirmed that one of the four victims is from the Niagara region, previously working as a nurse in St. Catharines.

Sarah Paton was a flight nurse on the Latitude Air Ambulance. Before that, she worked as an ICU nurse at Marotta Family Hospital and as a PSW at Niagara Gardens Retirement Home.

Kathleen Paton, a friend and former co-worker, described Paton as bubbly, hard-working and a bright light in every room she walked into.

“She cared about her patients, she cared about family and friends, like, everybody. She was a great nurse. It’s sad that it happened,” Kathleen said through tears. “She meant a lot to a lot of people, very much so.”

Paton was identified as the flight nurse on a medical evacuation plane called Heartbeat 104 that crashed in the Atlantic Ocean this past Saturday. She was working for Latitude Air Ambulance, which operates out of John C. Munro Hamilton International Airport.

The U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search for the plane after a 66-hour search covering more than 40,000 square miles, with debris found and everyone on board presumed dead.

Latitude Air Ambulance released a statement today remembering the crew: Capt. Philip Childerhose, First Officer Thomas Farquhar, respiratory therapist Jolene Weir, and Paton.

READ MORE: U.S. Coast Guard releases names of crew, passengers aboard missing Hamilton-based air ambulance

“We’ll miss her … I don’t know what to say, I’m still shocked,” Kathleen said.

Kathleen said she knew Paton in elementary school and reconnected when they both started working at Niagara Gardens Senior Living.

“Somebody contacted me and said, ‘How do you know a Sarah Paton? Is that your sister?’ I’m like no. And then I said to the co-worker, ‘How do you spell her name?’ She did. I said, ‘No, that’s a friend of mine,’ so we’ve just been friends since then.”

Paton got her start in healthcare at Niagara Gardens.

“You know, when she walked in the room, she lit up the room,” said Sheila Given, general manager of Niagara Gardens. “She would be the one that would bring in Tim Hortons and donuts on a blizzard day and come in and work the extra shifts. She was just an amazing, fantastic, fantastic person.”

Paton eventually started working as an ICU nurse at Marotta Family Hospital in 2021.

Niagara Health shared a message with CHCH News that was sent to hospital staff this week.

“She earned a reputation as a strong advocate for her patients, a trusted teammate and someone who could always be counted on,” the statement reads in part. “But those who knew Sarah will remember more than her clinical skill. Colleagues remember Sarah as someone who always put others first. She was kind, funny and deeply caring.”

“She was a hard, good working lady. Superhero, everything,” Kathleen said.

Canada’s Transportation Safety Board said it will be sending investigators to assist in search and recovery efforts in the coming days.

WATCH MORE: U.S. Coast Guard suspends search for missing Hamilton-based air ambulance, passengers