** Minnesota paramedic/firefighter, who died on the job, to be laid to rest Wednesday
** Family of Namibian paramedic, killed in mid-August plane crash in South Africa, baffled after remains
still not returned for burial
UNITED STATES NEWS
** Funeral services will take place Wednesday in St. Paul, Minnesota for a fire department paramedic who
collapsed and died August 31st at his station. KSTP (Jenni Lissarrague/September 7) said the commemoration
for Shane Clifton, 38, will see him laid to rest at the Fort Snelling National Cemetery. Clifton, who was
also a US Navy veteran who had served on the USS Curtis Wilbur, had been a fire department medic for
the past 8 years. Prior to that he had worked for Fridley’s Unity Hospital and Allina EMS. Pending the
service Wednesday, Clifton’s casket is hosting an honor guard of fellow EMS and fire responders. The watch
began Monday. Initial information on his death indicates he died from a cardiac arrest.
SOUTH AFRICA NEWS
** The body of a Namibian paramedic, killed August 16th in an air ambulance crash, has still not been
returned to his family for burial. That is the word from News 24 (Thomas Hartleb/September 7) which
said the remains of E-Med Rescue medic Alfred Ward, 24, continue to reside at the Western Cape Forensic
Science Laboratory. According to the newspaper, Ward’s family have been told the hold-up is to facilitate
DNA testing on the body. But Ward’s father said other factors may be playing a role, with investigators
having questioned him about his son’s mental state prior to the flight. Along with the body and death
certificate being withheld, added occurrences causing relatives grief is the fact Alfred’s cell phones and
Skype pages seem to be being used by someone else. The family say they are baffled by the whole handling
of the matter, which has left them unable to even settle Alfred’s financial affairs. Ward died alongside four
other people while the aircraft was en route from Oranjemund, Namibia to Cape Town with a head injury
patient. The aircraft crashed near the receiving airport after being told to circle while a radar problem at the
ground facility was resolved.
