Many drivers and passengers were scared when a brutal snowstorm left them stranded on New York State Route 5 on November 29, but one woman’s situation was especially urgent. This 64-year-old patient was traveling to Cleveland Clinic in Ohio to receive heart transplant surgery. In the meantime, she was wearing a battery-operated pump to keep the organ going. When severe weather brought the trip to a halt, her husband reached out to a nurse at Cleveland Clinic, who in turn contacted state troopers.
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A statement from the New York State Police describes an epic rescue staged by officers. It took a chain of separate trips, including a plane ride, but police finally got this heart transplant patient to her destination!
“Troopers implemented a plan to transport the 64-year-old to Portland Fire Department then to Westfield Memorial Hospital,” reads the report. “Troopers then transported her to the Jamestown Airport in Chautauqua County clear of the storm and she was flown by plane out of the area to Cleveland Clinic for the heart transplant.”
Photos from the storm show cars stranded in severe winter weather.
New York State Police provided a much shorter statement on Facebook. They included photos from the incident, which showed a lineup of cars and trucks stuck in the snow.
“State Route 5 town of Portland,” they wrote. “Handing out food and water and also located a heart transplant patient to safety – SP Fredonia. Stay off the roads in the south towns for safety as crews are clearing the roads.”
According to People, it looks like the heart transplant patient’s daughter actually reached out in the comments section to thank the troopers who rescued her mother!
“Words will never express the extreme gratitude my family and I have for you…” the woman wrote. “That’s my mom you saved! God bless each and every one of the officers involved in helping her get to safety and get her to her hopefully new heart.”
You can find the source of this story’s featured image here.
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