When Estelle Santiago suddenly fell ill in December 2025, the then-3 year old was more than 6,000 miles from her Midway home.  Estelle was visiting her grandparents on their Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints Church mission to Uruguay. First came an upset stomach — a seemingly standard sicknes s, according to Estelle’s father, Michael Santiago.  But that was soon followed by unrelenting vomiting. Estelle woke her parents with pleas for water days after her symptoms began. Michael said it was clear his daughter was not herself.  Cross-eyed and feverish, weak and clearly unwell, it became apparent that Estelle needed immediate help. Estelle’s parents, including her mother, Ellie Santiago, rushed their daughter to the nearest hospital at 4:30 a.m.  “This was a fairly traumatic experience,” Michael said.  Estelle had a seizure soon after hospital admission. Then she became comatose. Estelle was unresponsive to light and sound. Her kidneys began to fail. Then her heart.  Michael and Ellie said that’s when they knew they needed to act. Their daughter needed immediate help at home in the United States. She needed her primary care doctors, experts and specialists in pediatric medicine.  “Great county, beautiful people,” Michael said of Uruguay, “but not the place you want to be with a critically ill 3 year old ” Requesting aid From Uruguay a call came to the Intermountain Health Transfer Center in Salt Lake City. Intermountain Health Air Ambulance Team Supervisor Brooke Hicks said that was the first time her team heard the Santiago family’s plea for help.  Michael and Estelle’s grandfather, with connections to Intermountain Health, made that frantic bid for aid to the flight and ambulance team.  “What began as a family visit quickly turned into a fight for her life,” Hicks said.  Hicks said that transfer center team wisely understood that the situation needed to be escalated to the global air ambulance division. There was a race against the clock of Estelle’s life as her heart and organs worked in overdrive.  “Our team sprang into action,” Hicks said.  But international obstacles presented themselves immediately. A seven-day wait was required for a landing permit in Uruguay. Hicks said it was clear they did not have that time. The global Intermountain Health team worked to secure that permit within 36 hours.  “That is unheard of,” Hicks said. “Countless people across multiple domains and continents worked together.” Jon Woods, pediatric critical care physician with the University of Utah Health and Intermountain Primary Children’s Hospital, said he remembers getting the call. “We are very protective of our patients,” Woods said.  It was clear Estelle needed to come home for care, Woods said, but at the time, Intermountain Health professionals needed to trust in the medical professionals attending to her in Uruguay.  Woods helped prepare the in-flight medical team and organized medication to last multiple days.  “This took a village,” Woods said.  A team of air ambulance flight nurses and medical professionals assembled. Rose Linsler, an Intermountain Health Air Ambulance flight nurse, volunteered for the mission.  Estelle Santiago walks hand in hand with Intermountain Health Flight and Ambulance nurse Rose Linsler as she boards the medical jet that brought her home from Uruguay during a life-threatening illness. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record “My partners and I happened to have that weekend off. We thought, why not?” Linsler said. “Once we fully committed to the mission, we learned that this was a request to urgently transport a previously healthy, now comatose, ill, 3 year old with multi-organ failure.” Linsler and her team prepared to aid Estelle with ventilation, continuous dialysis and cardiac support.  “We first became aware of Estelle on Wednesday night. By Friday morning, we were en route,” Linsler said.  Family prayers The night Intermountain Health’s global team was set to land in Uruguay, Michael said a big storm hit their part of South America, raining heavily and blowing down trees. The Santiagos worried for the flight crew. So the family did what they knew best. Michael and Ellie prayed.  “Her condition was spiraling out of control,” Ellie said. “We were terrified.” Michael and Ellie said God answered their prayers. The winds calmed. The rain slowed. The air ambulance flight landed safely.  “The feeling in the hospital when the crew, when the three nurses came through the doors, we were just overwhelmed with a sense of peace and gratitude,” Michael said. “We knew at that moment we were in good hands.” The Intermountain Health team were “instruments in God’s hands,” helping at the family’s most vulnerable and terrifying moments, they said. A flight home Linsler said it wasn’t easy to persuade the Uruguayan doctors to part with caring for Estelle. Like the Intermountain Health team, the South American medical staff was  protective of Estelle and convinced she should not be moved.  “I could see how emotionally invested the ICU staff was in Estelle’s care, and how reluctant they were to endorse the transport,” Linsler said. “From the day we met her and transported her, she was not the picture of stability.” It took hours of assurances and reassurances about the skill of the in-flight medical team, their equipment and aircraft, Linsler said. Eventually, the Uruguayan ICU staff relented.  A team of Intermountain Health professionals delivered care while flying Estelle Santiago from Uruguay home to Utah. Credit: Photo courtesy of Intermountain Health Estelle was going home.  “By the time we reached Texas … we had finally achieved some level of stability and it was predominantly her blood pressure that kept us busy,” Linsler said. “Without even saying it to each other, I think we all felt this huge sense of relief knowing that we were now on and above American soil.” If Estelle’s condition would deteriorate further, Linsler said they would find nearby care in the United States.  “We were super grateful to see the lights of the primary children’s hospital,” Linsler said.  By Sunday night, Estelle was safely tucked in her ICU bed in Salt Lake City. Estelle’s care Estelle was diagnosed with hemolytic uremic syndrome. It’s a condition that plagued Estelle with renal, respiratory and cardiac failure. When she got the help she needed, though, Estelle began to steadily recover.  “She has a few lingering problems, but nothing that will hold her back,” Ellie said. “Today, she’s doing incredibly well. She has led her own recovery with a positive attitude.” Michael and Ellie Santiago share the story of their daughter Estelle’s life-saving medical flight from Uruguay during an Intermountain Health event celebrating her recovery and fourth birthday. Credit: Jonathan Herrera/Park Record Wednesday morning, Estelle addressed a room filled with medical staff and professionals who attended to her care and the air ambulance mission. Bright-eyed with a voluminous pink dress and matching bow in her blonde, curling hair, Estelle tucked herself shyly into Ellie’s skirts while her mother recounted their story.  Estelle is still on track for a full recovery.  Ellie spoke directly to the team of helping hands.  “Your sacrifice and diligence is astounding,” she said. “You’re doing the hardest and most important job in the world.” In June, Estelle celebrated her fourth birthday with her family. Her grandparents have since returned from their mission in Uruguay. The Santiago family is reunited in Midway.  And the Intermountain Health team is continuing their work. Linsler, Woods and Adam Hornung, Intermountain’s vice president for health medical transport, said it’s not often their teams get to celebrate a win like Estelle’s.  “It’s fun to get to celebrate miracles, isn’t it?” Hornung said.  The post Estelle’s survival: Intermountain Health, Santiago family celebrate air ambulance mission to Uruguay appeared first on Park Record. ...read more read less