Plane crash injures brother of U.D. alum killed in Uganda

Kyle Henn taken to UNC Hospital as family mourns the death of brother Nate.

Just as the Henn family was trying to come to grips with the death of their son Nate comes word that his younger brother Kyle has been injured in a plane crash outside of Chapel Hill, N.C.

The single-engine Cirrus SR 20 crashed just after take off at Horace Williams Airport.  The pilot was killed.  One other person on the plane was also injured.  WRAL-TV in Raleighquotes Brynne Henn, a sister, as saying Kyle was offered transportation to be with his family after hearing of the death of his brother Nate.

In a statement to NBC17 in Raleigh the family said: “We are devastated by the loss of Nate in the terrorist attack in Uganda, and the pain is immense.  We are blessed that by the grace of God we did not lose our second son, Kyle, when the plane bringing him to be with our family crashed Monday.”

Nate was killed along with 70 others when a bomb went off in Sunday in Kampala, Uganda.  Hundreds were celebrating Uganda and the World Cup soccer match.  The New York Times reports the group Shabab has claimed responsibility for the attacks.  The Times reports U.S. officials have grown worried about Shabab, which they had consider a localized Islamic group.  This type of synchronized explosions appears to have a trademark of Al Qaeda.

Tributes to Nate and his work with Invisible Children continue to come out.   There was this tribute to Nate done on their website:

“Nate worked with us at Invisible Children for a year and a half and leaves behind a legacy of honor, integrity, and service. From traveling the United States without pay advocating for the freedom of abducted child soldiers in Joseph Kony’s war, to raising thousands of dollars to put war-affected Ugandan students in school, Nate lived a life that demanded explanation. He sacrificed his comfort to live in the humble service of God and of a better world, and his is a life to be emulated.”

The posting went on to say: “Nate was determined to go to Uganda and see the homeland of the friends he had made on tour. His love for the Ugandan students he had worked with is exemplified by the deep friendships he forged with them. He was not serving some idea of down-trodden Africa. He was serving Innocent, Tony, Boni, Ronald, Papito, Sunday and Lilian. These are some of our Ugandan students who fell in love with Nate’s wit, strength, character and steadfast friendship. They gave him the Acholi name “Oteka”, which means “The Strong One.” Some of them were with him at the time of the attack.”

Nate’s impact cut across religious lines.  Rabbi Michael Beals of Congregation Beth Shalom in Wilmington will dedicate his sermon on Friday to Nate’s memory.   “He’s been coming to services here for about 4 years,” said Rabbi Beals.   The Rabbi said a friend of Nate’s would bring him to various services.  The two would discuss the various aspects of Judaism with Rabbi Beals.  He said they last spoke about 6 months ago.  “He wanted to talk about his mission with Invisible Children.  He wanted to make an impact on those who were maltreated,” said Rabbi Beals.

Rabbi Beals described Nate as kind to everyone.  His pastor from Chelten Baptist Church in Dresher, Pa. described Nate as having a deep concern for those in distress.

Nate’s Facebook page contains a video promoting an April rally where Invisible Children was trying to call attention to the plight of children enslaved in Uganda.