Global Rescue medically evacuated an 83-year-old member who suffered a stroke in the Turks and Caicos, transporting him to Florida for treatment and onward to his home in Northern California.

The angler was at his lodge last week, getting dressed for a morning of bone-fishing when he started exhibiting signs of a stroke. His son had just returned from a trip to pick up coffee when he opened the door and saw his father with a blank expression on his face and slurring his words: He immediately knew something was wrong, most likely a stroke. One of the guests ran to inform the group’s tour operator, Keith Kaneko of Angling On The Fly.

“The first words out of my mouth when I got there were, ‘Bob, where’s your Global Rescue card?’” Kaneko recalled.

The group took him down the stairs to an awaiting ambulance, which brought him to a small clinic on the island.  Global Rescue doctors discussed the patient’s diagnosis with the treating physician there and recommended he be transported to a Center of Excellence in Florida for CT scans. Global Rescue immediately dispatched an air ambulance to the island which arrived a few hours later, and brought the patient to the Ft. Lauderdale area.  Once he was examined, treated and stabilized to fly, he was transported to a hospital in his home city of Sacramento by a Global Rescue paramedic on a commercial aircraft.

The patient’s son reports that his father has almost completely regained his speech at the rehabilitation center near his home, and no longer requires the use of a walker to get around.

“It was incredible, everything was beyond our expectations,” Kaneko said. “Global Rescue’s people took over and coordinated everything. The communication and everything else was just great.”

Angling On The Fly is a new partner for Global Rescue. The father and son were two of the first members Kaneko had signed up for the service.

“These were seasoned anglers, who had done many trips to Canada, mostly fishing in rivers,” he said. “This time they decided to do something different.”

“[The member] is 83 years old and I remember asking his son if they had ever taken out some kind of medical evacuation insurance. They hadn’t.”

Kaneko encouraged them to sign up for Global Rescue memberships. But while filling out the application, required for members over the age of 75, the father almost threw in the towel rather than have a physician complete the brief medical questionnaire. His son persuaded him to follow through.

“It’s a very good thing he did,” Kaneko said.

Commander, USN-retired