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A Kenyan family living in the United States whose son died aboard a Delta Airways plane headed to Minneapolis from San Diego days before Christmas has questioned the circumstances leading to his demise.
18-year-old Griffin Gutwa had just completed his exams at the San Diego University and was headed to Minneapolis to reunite with his family for Christmas Holiday before he met his death.
His mother, Mrs Makori told ABC News that Gutwa was a first year student at University of San Diego and had always dreamt of becoming a neurosurgeon. She further disclosed that her son, who was referred by his nickname, “Babu,” led a very fit and disciplined life and had not shown any signs of being physically unfit.
In a statement Delta said: “On Dec. 22, the flight crew of Delta flight 1687 from San Diego to Minneapolis/St. Paul diverted to Sioux Falls following a customer medical emergency on board. The flight attendants used their training and engaged medical professionals on the flight to assist in the situation, and paramedics met the flight upon landing at Sioux Falls.”
A postmortem test conducted on Gutwa's body indicated he had an enlarged heart condition called cardiomegaly, but the cause of his death is still unclear. Gutwa is said to be a devout deacon at his Minneapolis church. “He has never tasted alcohol,” Makori said.
“Never smoked, nothing. He was a good Christian boy.” Makori described how she went to the airport at about 6pm to pick up her son, only to be told the plane had been delayed. She was asked to return back 8pm, but no reason was given to them. She went back to the airport two hours later in company of her husband, and their two children but police asked him to pull up to the terminal. “I asked, ‘What happened? What happened?’ and they said, ‘Griffin died on board,’” Makori said through tears.
An hour to flight from San Diego Gutwa requested for warm water, declined to take any food material, Makori said police told her. He then dozed off and would later develop breathing hardships. A fellow passenger seated next to him noticed and called for help.
A psychiatrist and two nurses aboard the flight responded. The plane then made an emergency landing an airport in Sioux Falls, South Dakota, but was announced dead by paramedics at the facility. “There’s a lot of questions I don’t know,” her mother said. “It’s shocking [the airline] have not called yet to give us any information."
Makori says she wants to know how Gutwa came to suffer from an enlarged heart.
Comments
Poleni sana. He might had a heart disease or high blood pressure that may not have been addressed.
for a teenager in california the following statements are just so hard to believe “He has never tasted alcohol,” “Never smoked..."
Just grow up and learn what to say and when to say it.
Quite sad indeed! Gone too soon. I urge this grieving family to talk to obtain autopsy report and seek medical experts to explain to them exactly what went on in a way that they can process and understand. The airlines are not trained healthcare professionals, they do the basic and rely on healthcare volunteers. In my opinion with my basic knowledge, there was no evidence of foul play here based on given medical report. It appears he sadly died of exacerbation of a pre-existing condition that has been silent/asymptomatic ( cardiomegaly - enlarged heart). His condition could have been caused by so many silent factors e.g elevated BP, hereditary/genetic among others. These factors have nothing to do with his physical fitness or lifestyle. Most are hereditary.
Most often, an enlarged heart causes no symptoms. Due to flight's maximum high altitude, the oxygen demand is often greater for everyone. in the case of someone with an enlarged heart, the heart may not be able to pump harder to cope with oxygen demand caused by high altitude, it becomes unable to pump blood well enough to other organs e.g lungs resulting to breathing difficulties among other symptoms. The plane is the worst setting to handle cardiac/heart related emergencies due to lack of equipment/supplies. I with them well.
RIP
@kobole! Come on grow up! while that is your opinion I strongly believe this is the wrong place and time to air it! A bit of empathy or just shutting up would really help and respect this grieving family!
May this family find ways to cope. Such grief!