'Perfect place, perfect time:' Tulsans save man's life on flight home from Ugandan mission trip

A group of Tulsans, including a cardiologist, on their way home from a medical mission trip in Uganda, saved a man's life.

They were traveling with Project Orphans, which has been serving in Uganda since 2012.

During the trip home, the group was flying from Uganda to Amsterdam when a Dutch passenger on the plane had a heart attack. Because they were on a medical aid trip, they had everything they needed to jump into action. They set up a make-shift ER on the plane and kept the man stable for three hours until they landed.

"That's what's awesome about Tulsa, is we are leaving our mark not just here in Oklahoma but across the world," said Brittany Stokes, the founder and CEO of Project Orphans.

What is Project Orphans?

Brittany Stokes founded Project Orphans in 2012. It started with a focus on helping kids in Uganda go to school and has expanded to medical services. Since then, they've built a village with schools and medical centers, and on this trip, they cut the ribbon on a new medical facility.

"We've been able to pipe in water to the village, electricity, and bring in the first medical center. We have patients walking 20 to 30 miles just to get medication and to be seen by a doctor," said Stokes. "Instead of having to refer outside of the hospital, we can have people who are in critical condition or needing overnight stay, stay in this inpatient ward and receive that help and that care."

Who was on the trip?

11 people from Tulsa, including a firefighter, an EMT, a nurse, a cardiologist, and people from local churches, just got home from a week-long trip serving people in Uganda through Project Orphans.

Tulsa cardiologist, Dr. TJ Trad, was with them and helped with a pop-up clinic where they treated 750 patients in one day.

"Different medical ailments. I tried to focus more on cardiology because they don't get access to specialty services in Uganda," said Dr. Trad.

The flight home: "Perfect place, perfect time"

After a successful trip, the crew started the long journey home, not knowing, their work wasn't done. In the middle of the flight from Uganda to Amsterdam, a Dutch passenger had a heart attack.

"Two members of the team woke me up and said, 'Hey, they are calling, they need a Doctor on the plane. There's a guy that might be having a heart attack.' I got there and sure enough the guy is having chest pains, he's extremely diaphoretic, has all the risk factors you can think of," said Dr. Trad.

Dr. Trad says the man was drenched in sweat, so they cleared a row of seats, laid him down, and went to work.

"Fortunately for him, we had all of the tools and then also we had all the medications because of the mission trip we were on," said Dr. Trad. "Basically, we had a makeshift ER in the middle of our trip back."

Dr. Trad missed last year's trip to Uganda because he had a heart attack, so he carries medication and a pocket-sized EKG device everywhere he goes.

He says they got the man stabilized and checked his vitals every 10 minutes.

"The recommendation from the in-ground KLM physician was to divert, but the pilot looked at me and asked me if I thought he would be stable enough to reach Amsterdam, and I said yes, I think he will," said Dr. Trad.

Dr. Trad and the team spent more than three hours treating the man until they landed in Amsterdam. Stokes says this experience is their mission

"It's just not ignoring the need, and doing something. I think that shows they do it here on the ground and they do it in the air," said Stokes.

The Dutch flight crew gave the team Dutch chocolates and a thank-you note that says:

"From Crew of KL537,

Through this way I want to thank you for your efforts. You make the difference in why I choose KLM. Let this small token of appreciation taste good and share it among yourselves.

Sander"