Arkansas family reflects on legacy of inspiring paramedic after sudden death

AUSTIN, Ark. — Arkansas first responders are now grieving the loss of one of their fellow paramedics.

You may remember us previously talking about Courtney Hagar who had been with MEMS for the past 20 years.

On Friday, March 21, she passed away suddenly, leaving behind her family, friends, and a big legacy. 

Now her family and colleagues are honoring her.

“There’s so many people in the community that still reach out to us to this day to let us know that she saved their lives,” described Bo Hagar, who is Courtney Hagar’s brother.

Bo describes his sister as fun-loving, caring, and an all-around good person.

Growing up he said they had the typical sibling feuds but later became really close.

“She is the one that literally takes care of everybody. She takes care of our entire family,”‘ he explained.

She also took care of the entire community.

“She always puts what’s going on with her aside for everybody else, and she’s a part of the MEMS mentor program. So when everybody else has something going on in their lives or they’ve had a bad call, she’s one of the ones there that reaches out to them and helps them,” he added.

Bo said her passing was unimaginable for the whole family. 

“She’s getting her wisdom teeth out, and had an abscess that put her in the hospital, and she got really bad, you know, we really thought that we were going to lose her there for a minute, and then, like she was, she was on the up and up,” he said.

However, things quickly changed. 

“When she passed away, some of her coworkers were at the hospital with her, and she was sitting up laughing and joking, carrying on like normal and she was actually talking about getting out of the hospital that weekend. So then, within the hour, we got the phone call that she was in cardiac arrest, and they weren’t able to save her,” he said.

He said she put up her best fight until she couldn’t anymore. 

“She’s left an entire world behind,” he added.

Even though she’s not physically here, her family and coworkers will continue to honor her in all the years to come. 

“Her and her partner, or MEMS partner, Nick and a few of the other ones at MEMS, kind of started a community EMS fishing program to give back to the community. So they do that a lot. We’ll continue to carry that legacy on for her,” he said.

This Wednesday, March 26, MEMS will host a blood drive in honor of Courtney Hagar at the bloodmobile at 1121 West 7th St. in downtown Little Rock from 9:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.

Then Friday, her friends and family will lay her to rest.

The visitation will take place at First NLR from 12:00 p.m. to 2:00 p.m. March 28 with the funeral service following right after.