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Air ambulance company plans to fly ill Rockford boy back to Michigan

Posted at 9:40 PM, Apr 18, 2016
and last updated 2016-04-18 21:40:27-04

WEST MICHIGAN - A Rockford family hoping to get their 10-year-old boy home from Florida after unexpected emergency surgery is getting help with a specialized flight. AeroCare, an air ambulance company based out of Chicago, learned about Chandyn Thompson and his family's struggle to bring him back home. They called his father and offered to fly Chandyn out of Tampa Bay -- for free.

Aeromedical case manager Jennifer Etzel-Elaqad said she spoke at length with Chandyn's father. She was told that the family was about to go fishing when Chandyn complained of a headache. He began to vomit, so he was taken to urgent care, where he was diagnosed with arterioveinous malformation (AVM), a condition that causes his brain to bleed. Doctors now believe Chandyn was born with AVM but was undiagnosed until recently.

"I really have to applaud that dad, because a lot of parents might’ve brushed this off as a headache. So for him to go a step further and let a medical professional diagnose him really saved the child’s life,” Etzel-Elagad told Fox 17 News.

Plans are tentatively set for Wednesday to have a jet fly Chandyn to Helen DeVos Children's Hospital.