Plane crash survivors continue their documentary on Africa

By Mike Bush

KSDK --There are many ways to make a difference. Dan Parris' way was to make a film.

"I wanted to reach a lot of people and film was the way to do it," Parris said.

But he's viewing his first big project through the lens of adversity.

A few years ago, the 25-year-old Marquette High School alum did mission work in the slums of Kenya. He was determined to go back and film a documentary on poverty in Africa. He began by recruiting three St. Louis area friends: David Peterka, Tim Peterka and Rob Lehr.

"I don't want to say it sounded like fun but it kind of did. It sounded like an adventure; that's what I was all about back then," said Lehr.

After months of planning, they began their journey last July by walking and hitchhiking to New York and later all over Europe while trying to live on just $1.25 a person, each day.

"We got to experience every different level of poverty. Poor people hitchhike, we slept in abandoned buildings, we slept in homeless shelters," Parris said.

"There was also the faith element of wanting to be in the situation where I could depend on nothing other than God," said Peterka.

Soon after arriving in Kenya in late July and meeting the people in the Kibera slum, their purpose was coming into focus.

"They're constantly eating meals together, sharing food, sharing time, sharing their lives. It's an amazing sense of community that you don't see in America," explained Peterka.

David's brother, Tim Peterka, added, "I think they just want respect just to be understood as human beings and not some kind of charity case."

But more than a million people live in Kibera's 2.5 square miles. There are no streets or sewage control. One third of the population has HIV. For the documentary, it was decided it should be seen from above.

"We needed an establishing shot of the slums to show the ground level things we filmed the day before to show the vastness of what it looked like from the sky," Lehr said.

That's when the mission took a stunning intermission. Parris' and Lehr rented a few hours of flight time on a Cessna 206.

"A tin can with wings," said Lehr.

Sitting behind the pilot and his friend, they aimed their cameras out the open door. Everything was fine for about an hour. And then it wasn't.

"The pilot jerks up on the plane once, jerks up on it twice and it didn't seem to lift at all," remembered Parris.

Then the plane hit some power lines and slammed into an apartment building and burst into flames.

"I remember seeing a bright white light and then it just felt like you were playing football, getting hit from seven different sides," Lehr said.

The pilot, Frank Towes, died on impact. Lehr was able to get out and free Parris and then went back to try and free the pilot's friend Ryan Williams.

"And I reached through the fire and got his seatbelt off and I felt, maybe I can get him out. And then my leg caught on fire," Lehr said.

Williams died a week later of his injuries.

Less than an hour after being rushed to the hospital, the filmmakers continued their documentary.

"I just walked over to Dan and said, 'We've got to talk about this,'" said Lehr, who began shooting video with his cell phone.

"When he put the camera on me, I knew it was the right thing," said Parris.

Parris had a broken back, broken collarbone and other injuries. He spent two weeks in a Kenyan Hospital. After they both came home, Lehr's recovery was more mental than physical.

"Hearing a plane, hearing a motor, anything like that or even a car with the window open brings me back to any piece of that day and it would immediately push me to an axxiety attack," explained Lehr.

It's now three months later and the other two members of their crew have finally come home.

"Of course, very excited that we could see each other again; they're doing alright and we're happy about continuing this project," said Peterka.

Even after the plane crash, the group decided that the project had to continue, figuring they weren't sure they'd get another chance. So the Peterka brothers stayed in Africa and traveled all over the continent to document the devastating poverty.

"We are there to rally our generation to make fighting poverty a priority," Peterka said.

The hope is to have the documentary ready for the Sundance Film Festival next summer. The plan may have changed but the message has not.

"The message for me is just get people to care and even if they don't care, pay attention," said Lehr.

"Our mission is to connect to those who need something to live for with those who just need something to live," Parris added.

As a group, it's their first film but they learned what many experienced filmmakers already know. Even the best scripts sometimes need a rewrite.

For more information about the documentary and how to help the project, visit www.giveadamndoc.com.