After receiving months of care at Shriners, the girl in Friday’s plane crash left a profound impact on the children’s hospital
The girl who was on board the plane that crashed in Northeast Philadelphia Friday was at Shriners for four months, receiving care for a condition that would not be easily treated in her home country.
The girl who was traveling home on the plane that crashed Friday in Northeast Philadelphia built unwavering connections with hospital staff and fellow patients during her approximately four months at Shriners Children’s Philadelphia.
The patient was with her mother, flying home after receiving lifesaving treatment at the hospital. They, along with four other people aboard the medical transport plane that crashed near Roosevelt Mall, were returning to Mexico, her home country.
“The relationships that were formed were true and were dear, and you know she is greatly missed this morning because of that impact,” Mel Bower, chief marketing and communications officer for Shriners, said Saturday.
The girl was receiving treatment at Shriners for an unspecified condition that was not easily treated in Mexico. The hospital celebrated her with a special send-off just hours before the plane crashed.
“Her journey was one of hope and of aspiration,” Bower said. Hospital officials, citing privacy concerns and patient-confidentiality laws, did not release the child’s name or age or her medical condition.
Shortly after the crash, Shriners staff knew “fairly quickly” that their patient had been on board.
Shriners provides care to patients from 170 countries and medical transports are common, occurring almost daily, Bower said.
Depending on the severity of the medical condition, some patients are able to travel commercially, and Shriners has partnerships with certain airlines. In more acute situations, a medical transport, like the one in use Friday evening, may be required. The hospital works with a variety of medical transport services.
In the aftermath of the crash, the Shriners community, an inherently tight-knit pediatric setting where patients are likely to form friendships with their therapists or the cafeteria workers, is grappling with the unthinkable.
“We’re in the lifesaving business,” Bower said. “Our mission is to give kids their best life ever. And so it’s not something we would even contemplate.”
On Saturday, Shriners was “checking on everyone,” Bower said. For employees or patients who may need extra support, the hospital can provide counseling services whenever they may need it.
And Bower said the devastation fuels their mission.
“We will take her with us as we go forward,” he said.