Actor Escaped a Fatal Helicopter Crash: How the Tragedy Changed His Life
West Palm Beach, Fl - Actor Escaped a Fatal Helicopter Crash: How the Tragedy Changed His Life. Kurek Ashley stepped out of a doomed helicopter moments before takeoff. The crash killed five people, led to years of depression and inspired the life-changing question that helped him transform trauma into purpose.
One decision saved Kurek Ashley’s life.
Read more or listen to the podcast interview, both are free.
While working on a Hollywood movie in the Philippines, Ashley stepped out of a helicopter shortly before it took off to perform a low-level aerial maneuver.
Minutes later, the aircraft veered off course, plunged into a ravine and burst into flames. Five people ultimately died.
Ashley survived without a physical injury, but the emotional wounds changed the direction of his life. His close friend, key grip Mike Graham, died in his arms while being transported to the hospital.
For Ashley, escaping the helicopter was only the beginning of his struggle.
Kurek Ashley Was Living His Hollywood Dream
In 1989, Ashley was building the kind of career many aspiring performers dream about.
The actor, who now lives in Australia, was working in the Philippines on Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection, an action movie starring Chuck Norris.
Ashley was surrounded by friends and colleagues. His acting career was moving forward, and his future appeared full of promise.
Everything changed on May 16, 1989.
A helicopter being used during filming was preparing to perform a low-level maneuver near Tagaytay. Ashley had been aboard the aircraft shortly before its departure but stepped out before takeoff.
That decision separated him from the friends and colleagues who were carried into the ravine.
The Fatal Helicopter Crash
Eight people were reportedly aboard the helicopter when it crashed near a large unfinished mansion.
The aircraft suddenly veered, fell approximately 40 feet into a ravine and erupted in flames.
Four members of the production died in the immediate aftermath:
Key grip Mike Graham
Gaffer Don Marshall
Cinematographer Gadi Danzig
Filipino pilot Jojo Imperial
Actor and stunt performer Geoff Brewer later died from his injuries, bringing the final death toll to five.
Three other people aboard the aircraft survived with serious injuries. Chuck Norris was not on the helicopter.
A Hollywood movie set had become the scene of an unimaginable tragedy.
His Close Friend Died in His Arms
Mike Graham was more than a member of the film crew. He was one of Ashley’s closest friends.
As Graham was being transported to the hospital, he died in Ashley’s arms.
Ashley had escaped the doomed aircraft, but he could not escape the memories or the questions that followed:
Why had he stepped out of the helicopter?
Why did he survive when others did not?
What was he supposed to do with the life he had been given?
The experience divided his life into two distinct parts:
Everything before the crash, and everything after it.
Read more or listen to the podcast interview, both are free.
The Invisible Injuries of Trauma
Ashley walked away without a visible injury, but emotionally and psychologically, he was devastated.
He struggled with severe depression for approximately two years.
The success he had once pursued no longer held the same meaning. Another acting role could not answer the questions created by the crash. Fame could not erase the memories, and professional achievement could not bring his friends back.
His physical escape took only moments.
His emotional recovery would take years.
Ashley’s story reveals an often-overlooked truth about trauma: surviving the event does not mean the crisis has ended.
A person can leave without a broken bone or physical scar while carrying survivor’s guilt, grief and unanswered questions that affect every part of life.
The helicopter crash killed five people. It also shattered Ashley’s understanding of his own life and forced him to search for a new purpose.
Turning Tragedy and Depression Into Purpose
Ashley eventually experienced what he describes as a personal transformation rooted in love.
Rather than allowing the tragedy to control the rest of his life, he began rebuilding himself from within. He examined the thoughts, emotions and decisions shaping his future.
His pain eventually became part of a larger mission: helping other people confront fear, anger, depression and the experiences that keep them trapped.
The former Hollywood actor became an author, international speaker and personal-development leader.
His survival story became inseparable from the message he would later share with people around the world.
The Four Words That Changed Kurek Ashley’s Life
Ashley went on to write *How Would Love Respond?*, a book that presents a spiritual approach to directing the thought patterns that influence success, failure, relationships and personal fulfillment.
At the center of the book is one deceptively simple question:
“How would love respond?”
For Ashley, those four words represent far more than the title of a book.
They became a way to pause before reacting, to interrupt fear, anger or despair and reconsider the next decision.
Will the response be controlled by pain?
Or will it reflect the person someone wants to become?
The question does not erase tragedy or suggest that grief is simple. Instead, it creates a moment of choice when painful emotions threaten to take control.
Healing Did Not Mean Forgetting
Ashley’s transformation did not erase the helicopter crash.
It did not bring back Mike Graham or the other people who died. It could not change what happened on the movie set.
What changed was how Ashley chose to live with the pain.
His message is that people may not be able to control every tragedy that enters their lives, but they can influence what that tragedy creates within them.
Healing was not about forgetting what happened.
It was about refusing to allow one devastating day to dictate every day that followed.
Read more or listen to the podcast interview, both are free.
From Hollywood Actor to Author and Speaker
Before dedicating his life to writing and speaking, Ashley appeared in Hollywood productions that included Airheads, Maniac Cop 2 and Delta Force 2: The Colombian Connection, as well as other film and television projects.
Yet his most important role may have begun after he moved away from acting.
The survivor became an author.
The actor became a speaker.
The man once overwhelmed by depression began helping other people confront their pain and reclaim their lives.
His new mission grew from one of the darkest days imaginable.
Kurek Ashley Shares the Full Story
Kurek Ashley is the featured guest on the nationally syndicated Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast.
During the interview, he discusses the fatal helicopter crash, the death of his close friend, the depression that followed and the personal transformation that gave his survival new meaning.
This is much more than a story about an actor or a tragic accident on a Hollywood movie set.
It is a story about trauma, survivor’s guilt, depression and the difficult process of rebuilding a life after everything changes.
It is also the story of one question that helped Ashley choose a new path:
“How would love respond?”
Those four words could not change his past.
They helped him create a future.
Listen to the Free Kurek Ashley Podcast Interview
Listen to this powerful conversation with Kurek Ashley on the Law Enforcement Talk Radio Show and Podcast.
The interview aired on radio stations across the United States and is available free on the show’s website and most major podcast platforms, including Apple Podcasts and Spotify.
Please listen, follow and share this remarkable story of tragedy, survival, depression and personal transformation.
Learn more about Kurek Ashley, his book and his work as an international speaker at KurekAshley.com.
Attributions
Cannon Group
Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer
Paramount Pictures
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