It's no secret, most of us would like to stay in our own home as we age. Yet, sometimes our loved ones just need a little extra help to remain comfortable at home. That's where Always Best Care can help....we are dedicated to exceeding expectations....always
They say that your golden years are the best years of your life. For most older Americans, that's how it should be - a time to relax, reflect, and live life in a familiar place. After all, senior citizens in the U.S. have worked tirelessly to build a better economy, serve their communities, and raise families.
However, as seniors grow older, completing daily tasks like showering and enjoying activities such as visiting the historic St. Croix Boom Site State Wayside gets harder without someone by their side. Unfortunately, many older Americans aren't able to rely on their adult children for help. The reality in today's world is that family members do not have the skills or time to dedicate to caring for their parents. That's where Always Best Care Senior Services comes in.
Our in-home care services are for people who prefer to stay at home as they grow older but need ongoing care that family or friends cannot provide. More and more older adults prefer to live far away from long-term, institutionalized facilities and closer to the place where they feel most comfortable - their home. Home care in Bayport, MN is a safe, effective way to give your loved ones the care they need when they need it the most.
Home Care Services
Service AreasSince 1996, Always Best Care has provided non-medical in-home care for seniors to help them maintain a healthy lifestyle as they get older. We are proud to have helped more than 25,000 seniors maintain higher levels of dignity and respect. We focus on providing seniors with the highest level of in-home care available so that they may live happily and independently.
Unlike some senior care companies, we genuinely want to be included in our clients' lives. We believe that personalized care is always the better option over a "one size fits all" approach. To make sure our senior clients receive the best care possible, we pair them with compassionate caregivers who understand their unique needs. That way, they may provide care accordingly without compromising their wellbeing.
The Always Best Care difference lies in life's little moments - where compassionate care and trustworthy experience come together to help seniors live a fruitful, healthy life. Whether you are an aging adult that can't quite keep up with life's daily tasks or the child of a senior who needs regular in-home services, Always Best Care is here to help.
“Shane and his team were there for me and my family at a time of”
“Great place to work and the owner is awesome!”
“Awesome place to work at. Is there a e mail address I could possibly get”
“Words cannot express how grateful we are for your companies services. We know it can”
“Shane and his team were there for me and my family at a time of crisis. They made the intake process simple and had a caregiver onsite in less than 48 hours. Their skilled and professional team was a pleasure to work with during a stressful situation. Thanks, Shane, Jeremy, and the team for all you do!”
“Great place to work and the owner is awesome!”
“Awesome place to work at. Is there a e mail address I could possibly get from you, I need proof that I used to work there. Thank you.”
“Words cannot express how grateful we are for your companies services. We know it can be difficult to schedule around changing situations. We appreciate your flexibility and the care and compassion shown for my mother. A special thanks to your team.”
Home is where the heart is. While that saying can sound a tad cliche, it is especially true for many seniors living in America. When given a choice, older adults most often prefer to grow older at home. An AARP study found that three out of four adults over the age of 50 want to stay in their homes and communities as they age.
When you begin to think about why, it makes sense. Home offers a sense of security, comfort, and familiarity.
The truth is, as we age, we begin to rely on others for help. When a family is too busy or lives too far away to fulfill this role, in-home senior care is often the best solution. Home care services allow seniors to enjoy personal independence while also receiving trustworthy assistance from a trained caregiver.
At Always Best Care, we offer a comprehensive range of home care services to help seniors stay healthy while they get the help they need to remain independent. As your senior loved one gets older, giving them the gift of senior care is one of the best ways to show your love, even if you live far away.
To give our senior clients the best care possible, we offer a full spectrum of in-home care services:
If your senior loved one has specific care needs, our personal care services are a great choice to consider. Personal care includes the standard caregiving duties associated with companion care and includes help with tasks such as dressing and grooming. Personal care can also help individuals with chronic conditions like diabetes.
Common personal care services include assistance with:
Sometimes, seniors need helpful reminders to maintain a high quality of life at home. If you or your senior has trouble with everyday tasks like cooking, our home helper services will be very beneficial.
Common home helper care services include assistance with:
Using this kind of care is a fantastic way to make life easier for you or your senior loved one. At Always Best Care, our talented caregivers often fill the role of a companion for seniors. That way, older adults can enjoy their favorite local activities, such as visiting Lakeside Park with friends while also receiving the care they need daily or weekly.
Common companionship services include:
According to AARP, more than 53 million adults living in the U.S. provide care to someone over 50 years old. Unfortunately, these caregivers experience stress, exhaustion, and even depression. Our respite care services help family caregivers address urgent obligations, spend time with their children, and enjoy nearby activities. Perhaps more importantly, respite care gives family members time to recharge and regroup. Taking personal time to de-stress reduces the risk of caregiver burnout. So, if you've always wanted to eat at the local Manger Restaurant & Wine Bar or visit People's Park, don't feel bad. Doing so is great for both you and your loved one.
At the end of the day, our goal is to become a valuable part of your senior's daily routine. That way, we may help give them the highest quality of life possible. We know that staying at home is important for your loved one, and we are here to help make sure that is possible.
If you have been on the fence about non-medical home care, there has never been a better time than now to give your senior the care, assistance, and companionship they deserve.
Always Best Care in-home services are for older adults who prefer to stay at home but need ongoing care that friends and family cannot provide. In-home care is a safe, effective way for seniors to age gracefully in a familiar place and live independent, non-institutionalized lives. The benefits of non-medical home care are numerous. Here are just a few reasons to consider senior care services from Always Best Care:
According to AARP, 9 out of 10 seniors prefer to age in place within the comfort of their own home. With in-home care, seniors have a way to stay at home, receive the care they need, and maintain a sense of independence, improving overall wellness.
If you or a member of your family have assumed the role of caregiver for your senior loved one, you know how stressful the job can be. Between caregiver burnout and constant worry, being a family caregiver is hard. In-home care relieves your burden and gives you peace of mind knowing that your older family member is in expert hands.
Unlike nursing homes, where the staff and residents rotate frequently, seniors can foster new friendships and build bonds with their caregiver. Seniors who socialize on a regular basis are often happier, which fosters positivity and leads to increased wellbeing.
No two seniors need the same kind of in-home care assistance. That is why each of our Care Plans is tailored to meet our client's individual needs. We offer plans that cover everything from light housekeeping to more involved duties like transportation to doctor's appointments. Our Care Coordinators will work closely with you to develop a personalized plan to ensure your senior's needs are exceeded.
Always Best Care offers a full array of care options for patients at all levels of health. With our trusted elderly care services, your loved one will receive the level of care necessary for them to enjoy the highest possible quality of life.
Request More Information
While it's true that some seniors have complicated medical needs that prevent them from staying at home, aging in place is often the best arrangement for seniors and their families. With a trusted caregiver, seniors have the opportunity to live with a sense of dignity and do so as they see fit - something that is unavailable to many older people today.
In-home care makes it possible for millions of seniors to age in place every year. Rather than moving to a strange nursing home, seniors have the chance to stay at home where they feel the happiest and most comfortable.
How much does a senior's home truly mean to them?
A study published by the American Society on Aging found that more than half of seniors say their home's emotional value means more than how much their home is worth in monetary value. It stands to reason, then, that a senior's home is where they want to grow old.
With the help of elderly care in Bayport, MN, seniors don't have to age in a sterilized care facility. Instead, they can age gracefully in the place they want to be most: their home. In contrast, seniors who move to a long-term care facility must adapt to new environments, new people, and new systems that the facility implements. At this stage in life, this kind of drastic change can be more harmful than helpful.
Institutional care facilities like nursing homes often put large groups of people together to live in one location. On any given day, dozens of staff members and caregivers run in and out of these facilities. Being around so many new people in a relatively small living environment can be dangerous for a seniors' health and wellbeing. When you consider that thousands of seniors passed away in nursing homes during the COVID-19 pandemic, opting for in-home care is often a safer, healthier choice for seniors.
Aging in place has been shown to improve seniors' quality of life, which helps boost physical health and also helps insulate them from viral and bacterial risks found in elderly living facilities.
For many seniors, the ability to live independently with assistance from a caregiver is a priceless option. With in-home care, seniors experience a higher level of independence and freedom - much more so than in other settings like a nursing home. When a senior has the chance to age in place, they get to live life on their own terms, inside the house that they helped make into a home. More independence means more control over their personal lives, too, which leads to increased levels of fulfillment, happiness, and personal gratification. Over time, these positive feelings can manifest into a healthier, longer life.
More independence, a healthier life, and increased comfort are only a few benefits of aging in place. You have to take into consideration the role of cost and convenience. Simply put, it's usually easier and more affordable to help seniors age in place than it is to move them into an institutional care facility. According to the US Department of Housing and Urban Development, seniors who age in the comfort of their homes can save thousands of dollars per month.
In-home care services from Always Best Care, for instance, are often less expensive than long-term solutions, which can cost upwards of six figures per year. To make matters worse, many residential care facilities are reluctant to accept long-term care insurance and other types of payment assistance.
With Always Best Care's home care services, seniors and their families have a greater level of control over their care plans. In-home care gives seniors the chance to form a bond with a trusted caregiver and also receive unmatched care that is catered to their needs. In long-term care facilities, seniors and their loved ones have much less control over their care plan and have less of a say in who provides their care.
In-home care is a valuable resource that empowers seniors to age in place on their own terms. However, a big concern for many families and their loved ones is how much in-home care costs. If you're worried that in-home care is too expensive, you may be pleasantly surprised to learn that it is one of the most affordable senior care arrangements available.
Typically, hiring an Always Best Care in-home caregiver for a few hours a week is more affordable than sending your loved one to a long-term care facility. This is true even for seniors with more complex care needs.
At Always Best Care, we will work closely with you and your family to develop a Care Plan that not only meets your care needs, but your budget requirements, too. Once we discover the level of care that you or your senior need, we develop an in-home care plan that you can afford.
In addition to our flexible care options, families should also consider the following resources to help offset potential home care costs:
When you or your senior loved one needs assistance managing daily tasks at home, finding a qualified caregiver can be challenging. It takes a special kind of person to provide reliable care for your senior loved one. However, a caregiver's role involves more than meal preparation and medication reminders. Many seniors rely on their caregivers for companionship, too.
Our companion care services give seniors the chance to socialize in a safe environment and engage in activities at home. These important efforts boost morale and provide much-needed relief from repetitive daily routines. A one-on-one, engaging conversation can sharpen seniors' minds and give them something in which to be excited.
At Always Best Care, we only hire care providers that we would trust to care for our own loved ones. Our senior caregivers in Bayport, MN understand how important it is to listen and communicate with their seniors. A seemingly small interaction, like a short hug goodbye, can make a major difference in a senior's day. Instead of battling against feelings of isolation, seniors begin to look forward to seeing their caregiver each week.
Understanding the nuances of senior care is just one of the reasons why our care providers are so great at their job.
Unlike some senior care companies, our caregivers must undergo extensive training before they work for Always Best Care. In addition, our caregivers receive ongoing training throughout the year. This training ensures that their standard of care matches up to the high standards we've come to expect. During this training, they will brush up on their communication skills, safety awareness, and symptom spotting. That way, your loved one receives the highest level of non-medical home care from day one.
While it's true that many seniors prefer to age at home, sometimes in-home care isn't the best fit. For those seniors and their families, choosing an assisted living facility makes more sense. Unfortunately, finding the optimal care facility is easier said than done in today's day and age. That's when Always Best Care's assisted living referral services begin to make a lot of sense.
Assisted living is a form of housing intended for seniors who require varying degrees of medical and personal attention. Accommodations may include single rooms, apartments, or shared living arrangements. Assisted living communities are typically designed to resemble a home-like environment and are physically constructed to encourage the independence of residents.
At assisted living communities, seniors receive help with daily activities such as bathing, dressing, and eating. They may also benefit from coordination of services with outside healthcare providers, and monitoring of resident activities to ensure their health, safety, and well-being. Caregivers who work at assisted living communities can also provide medication administration and personal care services for older adults.
Other services offered within assisted living communities can include some or all of the following:
At Always Best Care, our representatives can match your senior's emotional, physical, and financial needs with viable assisted living communities nearby. Results are based on comparative data, so you can select the best choice for you or your loved one.
Always Best Care works closely with local senior living communities to gain valuable knowledge that we then use to help seniors and their loved ones make informed decisions. This information can include basic care and rent, resident availability, and services provided. Because Always Best Care is compensated by these communities, we provide senior living referral services at no extra cost to you.
Some of the most popular assisted living communities to consider in our area include the following:
For many seniors, moving into a senior living community revolves around how and when they want to make a transition to more involved care. Some seniors are more proactive about transitioning to independent living. Others choose to remain home until their care needs or other requirements are satisfied. Remember - our staff is here to help. Contact our office today to learn more about assisted living communities and how we can find a facility that exceeds your expectations.
The first step in getting quality in-home care starts with a personal consultation with an experienced Always Best Care Care Coordinator. This initial consultation is crucial for our team to learn more about you or your elderly loved one to discover the level of care required. Topics of this consultation typically include:
A discussion of your needs and how our trained caregivers can offer assistance in the most effective way
A draft of your care plan, which includes highly detailed notes and a framework for the care that you or your senior will receive
Discuss payment options and help coordinate billing with your insurance provider
Our caregivers are trained to spot changes that clients exhibit, like mental and physical decline. As your trusted senior care company, we will constantly assess and update your Care Plan to meet any new emotional, intellectual, physical, and emotional needs.
If you have never considered in-home care before, we understand that you and your family may have concerns about your Care Plan and its Care Coordinator. To help give you peace of mind, know that every team member and caregiver must undergo comprehensive training before being assigned to a Care Plan.
At the end of the day, we only hire the best of the best at Always Best Care. Whether you need home care in Bayport, MN 24-hours a day or only need a respite for a couple of hours, we are here to serve you.
When you're ready, we encourage you to contact your local Always Best Care representative to set up a Care Consultation. Our Care Coordinators would be happy to meet with you in person to get to know you better, discuss your needs, and help put together a personalized Care Plan specific to your needs.
A longtime local builder who helped develop industry standards steps in on parcel with troubled history.The Minnesota Star TribuneA new housing development taking shape in Bayport would use the open land once eyed by GreenHalo Builds, the troubled home-building company that collapsed in 2023 when it was revealed to be little more than a debt-ridden shell plagued by allegations of shoddy construction and unfinished homes.This time, a builder with decades of experience and hundreds of completed homes has laid out a plan th...
A longtime local builder who helped develop industry standards steps in on parcel with troubled history.
The Minnesota Star Tribune
A new housing development taking shape in Bayport would use the open land once eyed by GreenHalo Builds, the troubled home-building company that collapsed in 2023 when it was revealed to be little more than a debt-ridden shell plagued by allegations of shoddy construction and unfinished homes.
This time, a builder with decades of experience and hundreds of completed homes has laid out a plan that calls for 35 houses and at least 30 multi-family units on the parcel east of Stagecoach Trail near Barker’s Alps Park.
Pratt Homes President Leonard Pratt and his representatives told the City Council they would take two to three years to build houses on the 28-acre parcel before the project would move into a second phase that would see multi-family housing rise in the center of the development, to be called Bayhaven.
Bayport Mayor Michele Hanson said she was initially concerned that the developer might focus only on the first phase and leave the multi-family project unfinished.
“I’ve had several conversations with Len and I have confidence that he does quality work and that he cares,” Hanson said. “But it is concerning because he doesn’t normally do multi-family, but after hearing the conversation [at the meeting] he is dedicated to finding a builder that matches his same level of quality and care.”
Jacob Steen of Larkin Hoffman, Pratt’s attorney, told the council that Pratt Homes would agree to a stipulation that the last 10 building permits of Bayhaven’s first phase be released only after a viable plan for the multi-family housing is brought forward.
“It forces us to be committed to finding that,” he told the council.
The company is already in talks with several builders, he added. Pratt also hired architect Pete Keely of Collage Architects to design some preliminary ideas of what the multi-family housing could look like. Showing those plans to the council earlier this month, Keely said the second phase could be a single three-story apartment building or a series of townhomes depending on how many units get built.
If an apartment building is the final decision, Kelly said his design would include numerous setbacks and angles to prevent the construction of something that looked like a brick wall.
A multi-family project of at least 30 units must be built on the site to meet the city’s comprehensive plan requirement of five dwellings per acre. Pratt said the site could hold a maximum of 70 units, depending on what’s ultimately agreed to.
The Bayhaven development would require cutting down 273 of the 701 trees on the site, according to plans shared with the City Council. The developer would plant 279 replacement trees after construction is finished, the council was told.
Two years ago, builder John Sharkey said he would build 46 houses on the site. The City Council was considering the deal when Sharkey was instead pushed out of town as numerous creditors said they couldn’t get him on the phone and were threatening legal action.
He filed for Chapter 7 bankruptcy protection and had at least 46 creditors, according to court records. In August, the trustee reported that she had found no assets available for distribution over and above that exempted by law and the case was closed Nov. 15.
Pratt Homes, based in Vadnais Heights, was founded in 1973 and has built hundreds of houses in the Twin Cities. Founder Lowell Pratt worked with the state Department of Commerce in the early 1990s to draft home construction standards, and was granted the first builder license in the state, according to the company website. Some of their latest projects include Laurel Ridge in Scandia, the Villas at the Royal Club in Lake Elmo, and the Villas at Spring Farm in North Oaks.
The Bayport project’s final plat must come back before the City Council for final approval, but city administrator Matt Kline said a significant amount of work remains before that can happen. Once it does, the developer can start installing infrastructure for utilities and roads and then apply for building permits for individual houses.
The council voted unanimously this month to allow both the annexation request and the comprehensive plan amendment required for the project to move forward.
“Welcome to Bayport,” Hanson told Leonard Pratt.
John Nelson of Bayport isn’t sure when he’ll feel like flying again.After the Delta Air Lines flight he was on crash-landed in Toronto on Monday, Nelson and a co-worker from Andersen Corp. decided to take the long way home. For the approximately 900-mile journey, a Delta employee drove them to Chicago on Tuesday, and then the airline arranged for a car service to take them the rest of th...
John Nelson of Bayport isn’t sure when he’ll feel like flying again.
After the Delta Air Lines flight he was on crash-landed in Toronto on Monday, Nelson and a co-worker from Andersen Corp. decided to take the long way home. For the approximately 900-mile journey, a Delta employee drove them to Chicago on Tuesday, and then the airline arranged for a car service to take them the rest of the way home to Minnesota on Wednesday.
“I fly a lot for work, but I’ve canceled my next two trips,” said Nelson, 47, who was en route to the Andersen factory in Strathroy, Ontario, when the crash occurred. “I’m going to take a few weeks and not do this anymore.”
Nelson, who is married and has two children, said Tuesday night that he wasn’t sure how his family will feel about making a long-awaited trip to Hawaii for spring break next month.
“We love to travel as a family, so that’s actually the hardest part about this whole thing,” he said. “We’re supposed to go in 28 days. Getting on a plane, I don’t know. I don’t want them to not love travel. I’m hoping we get to go, but we have some decisions to make as a family.”
Nelson, one of the 80 people on board Delta Flight 4819 from Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport, said he paid special attention to the outside conditions at Toronto Pearson Airport.
“I had never been to Toronto for work before, so I was very in the moment, watching out the window because I was interested in where I was going,” he said. “What I noticed was when we were coming into the airport, we were sort of shifting around a little bit, which it’s not a big airplane, so that’s not terribly uncommon, but I did notice how snow-swept the runways were. There was a lot of snow on the runway that had blown across, like blizzard-like conditions.”
When the plane, a Bombardier CRJ-900, crashed onto the runway, it made such a loud “metal-on-concrete” sound that Nelson’s Apple Watch’s “loud-noise warning” notifications began going off. The watch can detect a sound level that is considered potentially damaging to the wearer’s hearing.
“Have you ever been in a car accident and heard that metal on metal?” Nelson said. “It was like that, but times ten. I’ve been on so many planes, and I’ve hit and bounced and swirled and kind of kept going. This was like a hit, a bounce and like, all of a sudden, something was clearly not right because we started the tip to the right side. It just happened so quickly.
“I remember hitting,” he said. “I remember thinking, ‘Don’t hit your head. Whatever you do, don’t hit your head. If you hit your head, that’s when bad things happen.’ I just remember trying to hold myself steady. And then I could see – and feel – the whole plane just starting to tilt.”
The next thing he knew, he – and everyone else on board – were hanging upside down. “Everybody’s dangling there, which is just a testament to safety seat belts,” he said. “I was on the left side of the plane, and I remember there being, like, a big fireball out the window. I could feel the heat through the window. There was the moment – it probably only lasted a couple seconds, but we were all, like, ‘Holy crap, did that just happen?’ and then it’s like, ‘Get out! Get out! Get out!’ All I know is, I just wanted to stay alive.”
When Nelson, who was sitting in Seat 7C, unfastened his seat belt, he crashed down onto the plane’s overhead compartment, he said. “I’m actually bruised up and down my back because I fell and I ended up with my legs in the air, and my back on what would be the overhead compartments,” he said.
Because the descent had been so rocky, Nelson said he had his cellphone in his hand to call his family right away. As soon as he was upright, he called his daughter Grace, who was home from school because of Presidents Day; son Zack, 12, also was home, he said. His wife, Amanda, works at Westfields Hospital in New Richmond, Wis., and would not have been able to pick up because she was with patients, he said.
“I’m not saying it was the best decision, but I called my 15-year-old daughter. She’s like, ‘Hi, Dad,’ and I said, ‘You need to call your mom. I was in an airplane accident.’ She’s like, ‘What???’ I probably will come back to regret that as a parenting decision at some point.”
After that 15-second conversation, Nelson said he worked to help the woman next to him, who was stuck in her seat belt. “She’s like, ‘I lost my glasses, I lost my phone,’” he said. “Everybody had lost everything at this point. It was just mass chaos. Everybody was upside down, but I have to say that everybody was remarkably calm amongst the chaos that was around us.”
Nelson said the flight attendants jumped into action and told everyone to leave their belongings and evacuate immediately. “They were like, ‘Leave your stuff, get off the plane. Leave your stuff, get off the plane,’” he said. “They were very clear and very direct. I was able to grab my backpack, which had been under the seat in front of me.”
The woman next to Nelson actually had been told by a flight attendant prior to landing that she had to put her bag under the seat in front of her. “She said, ‘It doesn’t fit,’ and the flight attendant said, ‘Ma’am, you have to put your bag under your seat. I’ll help you. Give me your coat. I’ll put it in the overhead bin, but everything’s got to be underneath there.’”
When the woman questioned why, the flight attendant responded: “Because if we’re in an emergency situation, I need to have the aisles clear so you can get out.”
“Truer words were never said, right?” Nelson said. “We’re sitting there upside down, and I’m, like, ‘Well, thank God her bag didn’t fall on top of me.’”
As he and other passengers left the plane, he said they grabbed cellphones and whatever else they could find in order to return the items to their owners.
Nelson said he has two pieces of advice for airplane travelers: Listen to the flight attendants, and keep your ID on your person.
“I know flight attendants can be boring, but listen to them,” he said. “They truly have our safety in mind. I spent seven hours with a Delta person who drove me across international lines today, and they want us to get home safe.”
Nelson said he was lucky he could get to his backpack, where his passport was stored.
“Keep some identification around you, like, really close,” he said. “There are people who struggled with having passports or having anything. The government, both Canadian and American, were taking care of them to make sure they had all of their paperwork, and they were going to get home. But always just have your stuff with you. You never know, you know what I mean?”
Nelson said he is not sure when his carry-on bag – full of “four days’ worth of Andersen gear” – will be returned to him. Delta officials told him on Tuesday that the Federal Aviation Administration would be the agency to release it.
“They’re going to try to recover whatever’s left,” he said. “They’re going to try to decontaminate it and try to get it to us within a month, but they basically said it’s going to be covered in jet fuel, and it’s going to stink.”
A spokeswoman for Andersen said Wednesday that two employees were on the flight and both were back in Minnesota.
“Our thoughts are with everyone involved in the terrible accident,” said Eliza Chlebeck, the company’s vice president of communications and community. “We are grateful to the first responders who were at the scene and appreciate the outpouring of compassion and support to those impacted.”
On Wednesday, a spokesman for Delta confirmed to the Associated Press that it has offered each passenger on the flight $30,000 and and is “telling customers this gesture has no strings attached and does not affect rights.”
In the immediate aftermath of the crash, Nelson says that Delta provided clothing and whatever else was needed, but the selection was limited because Monday was a federal holiday in Canada (Family Day) and everything was closed. He thinks the Toronto Maple Leafs shirt he wore on Tuesday and the blue Toronto sweatshirt he wore on Wednesday came from a gift shop at the airport.
“It’s, like, the most Canada thing ever, but Delta has done as much as they possibly can,” he said. “You know, everybody got off. Everybody did everything they could have, and it worked out, and everybody was safe. I don’t know how. It’s a miracle, but it’s a miracle because people work together.”
Originally Published: February 19, 2025 at 6:47 PM CST
Ashley Zook, of Mound, posted a video from inside the plane of herself saying while dangling: “My plane crashed. I’m upside down.”The Minnesota Star Tribune“Mass chaos” is how one Minnesotan aboard the Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis to Toronto described the immediate aftermath inside the jetliner that crash-landed Monday afternoon.&ldqu...
Ashley Zook, of Mound, posted a video from inside the plane of herself saying while dangling: “My plane crashed. I’m upside down.”
The Minnesota Star Tribune
“Mass chaos” is how one Minnesotan aboard the Delta Air Lines flight from Minneapolis to Toronto described the immediate aftermath inside the jetliner that crash-landed Monday afternoon.
“I did notice the winds were super gusty,” 47-year-old John Nelson, of Bayport, told CNN in an on-air interview. “The snow had kinda blown over the runways. It was routine, but it was noticeable that the runways were in kind of a weird condition.”
As of Tuesday morning, of the 21 injured passengers that were taken to a nearby hospital, all but two have been released, according to Delta.
No fatalities have been reported as aviation agencies investigate what led to the crash of the CRJ-900 aircraft operated by Endeavor Air, a wholly owned regional subsidiary of Delta that is based in Minneapolis.
Delta Flight 4819 departed the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport shortly after 11:34 a.m., about an hour late, according to FlightAware.com. It crashed in Toronto at about 2:15 p.m. EST, according to Delta.
“When we hit, it was super hard,” Nelson continued. “We hit the ground and the plane went sideways, and I believe we skidded on our side and flipped over on our back.
“Where we ended up there was a big fireball on the left side of the plane. It was mass chaos.”
Everyone in the fuselage came to rest upside down, he told the network.
“We kind of let ourselves go and fell to hit the ceiling, which is a surreal thing,” he said. And then everybody was like, ‘Get out! Get out!’ We could smell the jet fuel. And then we just crawled out of the back of the airplane."
[More: How safe is air travel in Minnesota, the U.S. and the world?]
Also among the Minnesotans aboard was Michael Braunschweig, 52, of Shakopee, according to his employer, Twin Cities-based Starkey.
Braunschweig, in a statement released by his employer late Tuesday afternoon, said he was traveling with a colleague at the time, and “much to my surprise, I was captured on video helping people out of the plane. I am still processing this experience.”
Brandon Sawalich, president and CEO of the hearing aid maker, said in a statement, “I have known both valued team members for more than 30 years. ... In this unthinkable situation, they both showed remarkable resilience and strength. ... They, as well as their families, will have Starkey’s full support as they recover from this traumatic experience.”
James Zook said his sister, 32-year-old Ashley Zook, of Mound, was on the plane for a business trip to Toronto. He said his sister, who uploaded a video of the ordeal on Snapchat, had talked to her family and that she was doing fine.
Ashley Zook posted a video from inside the plane of herself saying while dangling, “My plane crashed. I’m upside down.”
Once out of the plane, her video captured the wreckage as flames flickered at one end. She gasped for breath once on the windswept runway and said, “I was just in a plane crash. Oh, my God.”
Her brother told the Minnesota Star Tribune, “I’m glad that my sister is all right, and I’m glad that the [other] passengers are also all right.”
[More: Worried about an upcoming flight? Aviation expert stresses flying is still ‘very safe]
Regional carriers such as Endeavor are separate entities that fly under the guise of a major airline. Endeavor, flying as Delta Connection, has its own work crews of pilots, flight attendants and maintenance.
Delta and other commercial airlines contract many of their smaller routes to regional carriers. Passengers may not realize they are flying on a regional airline as tickets, aircraft logos and cabin interiors all reflect the major carrier.
651-774-9979
