A family from Minnesota became stranded in Costa Rica when their lives suddenly turned upside down. Their son had broken his leg on vacation.
When a stranger heard about their story, he stepped in to help by offering a ride to the family free of charge. After a six and a half hour flight, the family landed safely at home in Bay City where family and friends were waiting for them.
They couldn’t be have been happier to have supportive people around them, especially to the man who stepped in to offer them help in such a crucial time.
The Accident
The family had been vacationing in Costa Rica, a place that Emmee Lopez always wanted to go. After years of unsuccessful attempts to go, they finally managed to save up for the trip
On the second day of the vacation, one of Emmee’s sons, Axel, fell and broke his femur. The three-year-old was rushed to the National Children’s Hospital for emergency surgery, according to Kare11.
After six hours of waiting, he was finally admitted for surgery.
Family from Lake City, MN stranded in Costa Rica. Emmee Lopez & her husband planned for this trip for 5 years. On first day, their 3-yr-old son broke his femur. The cast leaves him immobile, he has to lay 24/7 for 6-8 weeks, so he can’t fly home. @kare11 at 6. pic.twitter.com/GsZKAnGPDL
— Cory Hepola (@CoryHepola) July 17, 2018
The surgery had been successful but Axel was required to wear a leg cast, and the cast was so big that it prevented the three-year-old from sitting up and moving around. When Emmee asked the doctors if her son was able to travel, the doctors said yes.
“These doctors that are asking me, ‘What do you want to do,’ and I specifically asked, ‘Will he be able to travel with this cast?'” Emmee said, to which the doctors replied, “Yep, no problem, no problem.”
But as it turned out, Axel was unfit to ride a commercial airplane.
MN family stuck in Costa Rica after child breaks leg https://t.co/y0pyrMY2F2 pic.twitter.com/xKhyXIDOBw
— KARE 11 (@kare11) July 18, 2018
“There’s nothing you can do because during takeoff and landing a passenger has to be in a seatbelt,” Emmee said after being told that Axel would not be able to fly.
“And, you know, I said, ‘I will buy three seats, I’ll buy first class, I’ll buy whatever I need to,’ and unfortunately, no.”
The family was facing a dilemma—with Axel unable to travel, they were stranded in Costa Rica.
Emmee said that after trying everything with the airline, she contacted even resorted to calling the U.S. Embassy for help but both of them suggested that she could call for an air ambulance to transport her and her family back to Minnesota. The problem with that option is that the air ambulance had a price tag of $42,000.
When Emmee contacted her insurance company to ask if they could cover it, they refused her request.
“Our insurance denied us because we’re out of the country. Unfortunately, we were led to believe our insurance would cover it,” Emmee said.
Disaster struck less than a day after the Lopez family arriving, when 3-year-old Axel suffered a serious injury.
Gepostet von Bring Me The News am Mittwoch, 18. Juli 2018
They were out of options.
The doctors said that the cast would take another few months until it could be removed but the family had bills and jobs back at home waiting for them, and they did not have the money, time, or resources to wait until their son was fit to travel.
“I just want to go home, I just want to get my cast off. I just want to be in my own bed,” her son would say.
Not knowing what to do, they started a GoFundMe page for their son. They have also turned to families and friends for help, and were staying with friends Emmee met while studying abroad.
Rescue
The story was reported on by WCCO and caught the eye of Wes Converse, the CEO of Red Wing Aeroplane. He had, too, been living in the same community and he felt like he could help the family out, according to CBS Minnesota.
A Minnesota family is finally home from Costa Rica after a generous WCCO viewer saw their story and stepped into help a 3-year-old boy with a broken leg who couldn’t fly. | https://t.co/NQToZCkgqL pic.twitter.com/17sMEZfDie
— WCCO – CBS Minnesota (@WCCO) July 23, 2018
“I looked at my wife and said I think we can help this family,” Converse said. “I just felt because it was someone right in our community, we had our resources to help them.”
“It felt like the right thing to do,” he said.
A Minnesota family stuck in Costa Rica because of a medical issue is now back home — thanks to a WCCO-TV viewer.
Gepostet von WCCO-TV | CBS Minnesota am Freitag, 20. Juli 2018
It was then that the CEO had formulated a plan to help the family—having an airplane business, he reconfigured one of his planes so that it would accommodate the injured boy and his special needs.
And then, he reached out to the family and offered them the free ride home. Converse had the plane flown to Costa Rica, where the family would be flown back home in Minnesota.
“When we both saw that plane we were both in tears, we were really excited,” Lopez said.
After six and a half hour ride on the plane, it landed in Bay City, where Lopez was welcomed by dozens of family and friends, who had been waiting for them.
“We just felt so overwhelmed and so blessed to have everyone by our side,” Emmee’s husband, Ceslo, said.
The Lopez couple said that they planned to get lunch with Converse. They decided to use the money they had raised from the GoFundMe page made previously to pay it forward to someone else who might be in need.
“It’s been really emotional for both of us,” Lopez said. “We’re really blessed back home.”
