Boy reunites with air ambulance crew that helped save his life

Flying high on excitement, Axel Barahona waved down to classmates as the TriCity LifeNet helicopter during a special ride-along that landed on the football field at Hastings Middle School Wednesday. Both Axel’s current seventh-grade classmates and students in the sixth grade came out to watch the spectacle, cheering as he made his way to the helicopter and as it took off. Wyatt Watson, a sixth-grader at the middle school, could barely contain his excitement as he watched.

“I can’t believe a helicopter just landed in the middle of our football field,” he said. Axel’s parents, Mymor and Astrid, were thankful that their son was still alive because the first time the 12-year-old rode an air ambulance was on a trek to Omaha to save his life. The harrowing experience for the Barahona family began on Jan.



29, 2024. Axel had undergone a tonsillectomy but started to feel unusual pains a few days after his release. He remembers going to the bathroom at 5 in the morning and collapsing.

Axel had gone into cardiac arrest due to sepsis in his hip that developed due to complications from his surgery. Paramedics rushed Axel to Mary Lanning Healthcare, where doctors determined he needed to be taken to Children’s Nebraska, a pediatric hospital in Omaha. An air medical team with TriCity LifeNet, based in Kearney, responded to the emergency as the quickest way to get Axel the help he needed.

During the flight, Axel’s vital signs dropped, prompting a brief touch down in Lincoln where Tri-City LifeNet’s crew worked to stabilize him for the remainder of the journey. It took Axel seven months to recover from the infection, but now seems to be as vibrant as ever following treatment at Madonna Rehab facility in Omaha. Mymor said the air ambulance crew played a vital role in his son’s recovery.

“We’re really lucky to have this team near to us,” he said. “Only God knows what would have happened if they weren’t.” The crew that fateful night included pilot Lane Stahr, flight paramedic Josh Marshall and flight nurse Elizabeth Lashley.

All three crew members reunited with Axel and his family Wednesday as they offered Axel a second ride in the helicopter that helped save his life. This time around, Axel sat in the front and actually helped start the helicopter. He was nervous as they prepared to take off and asked about a bag if he were to become sick, but it was an unnecessary precaution.

Once in the air, Axel’s fear subsided as he took in the joy of seeing the city of Hastings from above. Marshall said that riding in a helicopter is a new sensation and Axel did great. Axel described the experience as amazing.

“I would go on it again,” he said. “I smiled a whole bunch.” He said he was thankful to have the opportunity to thank the crew for helping save his life.

Marshall said it has been great to see the outcome of the flight, where often crews don’t get the chance. He visited Axel a couple times in the hospital and said it was nice to have see the success of their efforts. “It’s amazing to get to see it through to the end,” he said.

“You don’t get to do this often.” Austin Lambing, area manager for LifeNet, said the Kearney base was established a few years ago to better cover the area. “It’s incredibly special for the crews,” he said.

“It’s not often they get to see the outcome of a flight.” Denisse Coffman, vice president of corporate communications for Air Methods, LifeNet’s parent company, said they work to reconnect patients with the crews that help them every chance they get. “We don’t let a lot of opportunities like this pass us by,” she said.

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