Florida mom hopes to find nurse who saved daughter's life during flight
SANFORD, Fla. - A Sanford, Florida mother is looking for the nurse who saved her daughter’s life on a flight.
Last week, Makayla Piper was flying from Indiana to Florida when she had a serious diabetic emergency. Her mother, unaware of what happened in the skies, knew something was wrong when she saw ambulances at the airport.
"Honestly, I thought that she had died in the plane," said Jenna Colon.
The battle of life and death has been something Piper, 19, has faced too many times. She has beaten Hodgkin’s Lymphoma four times in the last three years, but on May 18, she came closer to death than ever before.
"She’s never gotten this bad before," said Colon. "She’s never gotten to a point where she’s been unresponsive."
Piper is also a type one diabetic. She tries to keep her sugar levels between 75 and 100. Although on Flight 1349 from Fort Wayne Indiana to Sanford, Colon says doctors believe her sugar levels spiked to 900! That is nearly at the point of permanent brain damage.
Last week, Makayla Piper was flying from Indiana to Florida when she had a serious diabetic emergency.
"I can’t stay awake. Your vision gets glossed over and you don’t really see things," said Piper. "You can’t breathe, you’re hyperventilating and your body kind of feels like you’re in a hole."
A nurse who happened to be on the flight noticed Piper’s distress. She got the attention of the flight attendants and went to work.
"She made sure I was awake every 15 minutes. She kept asking if I knew where I was to make sure I was still coherent with everything and she sat there the entire time," said Piper.
Piper never got the woman’s name who kept her stable. She only vaguely remembers what she looked like.
"She was about her mid-30s. She was black, her hair braided, and it was a mixture between dark and light brown," said Piper. "She had lavender scrubs on with a blue jacket. I don’t remember her face very much."
Piper and her mother have gone to local hospitals, checked flight itineraries, and posted on social media trying to find the hero nurse. All they want to do is say thank you.
"She saved my life," said Piper. "If it wasn’t for her, I would not be here. I would not be talking to you. I will not be able to see my family. If it wasn’t for her, I wouldn’t be here, and it means the world."