Tragic

Any accidental death is a tragedy, especially around the holidays.

However this seems heightened when it involves one of your peers, on what started off as a life-saving endeavour.

 (CNN) -- Three people -- a surgeon, a medical technician and a pilot -- were killed Monday when a medical helicopter crashed in Florida, the Mayo Clinic said.

The helicopter crashed at about 5:23 a.m. ET about 12 miles northeast of Palatka, Florida, according to Federal Aviation Administration spokeswoman Kathleen Bergen. 

The clinic said the helicopter was carrying two employees to the University of Florida in Gainesville to harvest organs when the crash occurred. It identified those employees Monday as cardiac surgeon Dr. Luis Bonilla and procurement technician David Hines.

It's sacrifices and risks like these that I never have to take, that reminds me of what these surgeons and their teams have to go through in the name of helping patients. And in the recent years, there seems to be quite a few of these accidents, probably in part due to the increased numbers of transplants that are performed nationwide.

These guys are heroes.

Our thoughts, prayers go out to the families of those killed in this noble mission. Though I have never met either of them, I know the medical community will mourn this tragic loss.