Remembering heroic doctor killed after helping at I-96 accident

(WJBK) - A physician at Henry Ford Hospital stops to help after seeing an accident and ends up losing her life.

Dr. Cynthia Ray passed away Wednesday night just days after being struck by a car.

Her colleagues remember the 46-year-old woman described as a "giving, generous spirit."

"I was like her Michigan father - it's a terrible loss," said her mentor, Dr. Michael Eichenhorn, M.D.

For Eichenhorn, it's no surprise his caring and committed friend would stop along I-96 to try and help several people involved in an accident..

"She was just a sweet kid who kept us young, who brightened a room when she was in it," he said.

And Sunday, while Ray and another driver, 16-year-old Sean English, had been helping those people, another car hit both of them.

English is still in the hospital, but Ray never regained consciousness and died Wednesday.

"Fortunately we believe she probably had no awareness at all of anything that had happened to her," Eichenhorn said.

Just three beds down from where Ray had been in the ICU is where the teen who hit her,17-year-old Keith Martin, lies in critical condition.

"We feel their pain and they feel our pain. This was an accident. There was no intoxication, it was one of those things that sometimes happen," Eichenhorn said.

As Ray looked up to her father, following him into the field of medicine, Ray's family is comforted to know she's now with him.

"Cyndi is now with her dad, Fred, who was an inspiration to her. She was daddy's little girl," Eichenhorn said.

Ray's talents outside the hospital were pretty unique. The pulmonary doctor, who grew up in Oklahoma, was a talented ballerina and dogsledder.

"She really livened a room," Eichenhorn said. "She could cook, she could entertain, she could sing, she could dance ... and when she liked you it was like no one else mattered."

That compassion was always shining with her patients and with her dedication to rescuing Weimaraners.

Henry Ford Hospital created a fund in Ray's name.

"She used to take money out of her own pocket if people didn't have gas money to get home or were needing a meal on their way home from procedures," Eichenhorn said.

As giving as Ray has been, impacting countless lives while living, she continues to save even more as an organ donor.

"She was fortunately able, because her injuries were confined to her brain, to donate a liver, kidneys, tissue and lungs," Eichenhorn said.

And as family, friends, colleagues and patients mourn the loss of such a giving spirit many are keeping Ray's spirit alive by giving back as well.

If you would like to give back to the charities that Dr. Ray was so passionate about, CLICK HERE for The Dr. Ray Patient Rescue Fund to help pulmonary patients receiving medical care.

To donate to the Great Lakes Weimaraner Rescue, CLICK HERE.

The funeral will be held on Saturday, April 8th at the St. Kenneth Catholic Church in Plymouth. Doors open at 10am with services at 11am. The church is located at 14951 North Haggerty Rd, Plymouth 48170.