UofL Burn Unit nurses honored for care after deadly UPS plane crash

LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) — November 4, 2025, is a day people in Louisville will never forget.

A McDonnell Douglas MD-11 UPS cargo plane crashed around 5:15 p.m. that afternoon. Fifteen people, including three pilots, died in the crash.

More than six months later, the memory of that horrific day still lingers, especially with the nurses at the UofL Burn Unit.

"As soon as the crash made the news, the nurses from the burn unit were preparing for a scenario that they had not yet experienced," said UofL Burn Unit manager Kelly Thomas.

Several victims of the crash were brought to the unit. Nurses who were off that day offered to come in and nurses who were already there stayed well after the end of their shift.

"The team on the burn unit stepped forward with extraordinary compassion, grace, professionalism and unwavering teamwork to care for not only patients but the devastated families," said Thomas.

Now, those nurses are honored with the Team Daisy Award, an award created to recognize nurses for going above and beyond to help patients and their families.

Kelsey McKiernan was one of the nurses on shift that day.

"It was a very quiet day," McKiernan said. "Next thing we know we see a fire and then our alarms were going off. I think it was all just so jarring for us."

McKiernan said walking into the room Friday and still feeling the love and support several months later was "surreal."

"I'm just so happy that we're getting, all of us are getting recognized for how much we did," she said. "It's nothing that we would've second-guessed, and we'd do it again tomorrow," she said.

The award will now be displayed in the UofL Burn Unit. Every nurse honored also received their own certificate.