ESCONDIDO (KGTV) — ABC 10News sat down with an Escondido woman who lost her husband, a local firefighter, in 2017. The woman tells 10News she knew two of the men who died in Sunday's Riverside County helicopter crash personally.
“Being told that your husband is dead...everything stops.”
Ashley Iverson knows firsthand that overwhelming feeling of loss and grief. Her former husband, Cory Iverson,was killed while battling the Thomas Fire in 2017.
“It feels like your life is over...it feels like you can’t breathe. You’re consumed with what was...and what will never be," she said.
Ashley says learning of Sunday's mid-air helicopter crash that killed three brought all of those emotions back.
“I received a call Sunday evening from Chief Tony Mecham and he gave me the word that two more of Cory’s brothers had been killed.”
Ashley knew two of the victims personally: Cal Fire Assistant Chief Josh Boschof and Cal Fire Captain Tim Rodriguez.
“Both T-Rod and Bischof had such a calming presence."
She says they both worked with Cory when she met him.
Ashley attended a procession held to honor their lives on Thursday to be there for their wives.
“Transporting Cory to his final resting place was the most difficult day of my widow journey. It was horrible and beautiful all at the same time.”
She says both Josh and Tim helped her through the years following Cory's death. She's determined to help their families — now facing futures without their fathers.
“Person after person would ask me, well what do you need? I need my husband home. That’s the only thing a widow wants and needs.”
Ashley has started a GoFundMe for Josh and Tim.A separate GoFundMe has been started for the third victim, contract pilot Tony Sousa.
“While money does not buy happiness, there is a level of comfort that can come when it is something that you don’t have to worry as much about," she said.
