posted April 04, 2025

HASTINGS, NE – April 3, 2025 – Cheers and applause filled the air at Hastings Middle School on Wednesday as students and staff gathered to witness an emotional reunion. The TriCity LifeNet crew landed on the school’s football field to reunite with 12-year-old student Axel Barahona and his family—more than a year after transporting him during a life-threatening medical emergency.

“We are very blessed because we have air medical services like TriCity LifeNet in our area to help save the lives of many,” said Axel’s mom, Astrid Villeda, overcome with emotion as she recalled the events of that fateful day when she thought she could lose her son. “I give thanks to God for their service.”

In January 2024, four days after undergoing a routine tonsil surgery, Axel was taken to Mary Lanning Hospital in Hastings with severe hip pain and was diagnosed with sepsis. Given the severity of his condition, Kearny-based Tri-City LifeNet was called to transport Axel to higher level of care in Omaha. As the crew arrived, Axel went into cardiac arrest. Working alongside hospital staff, they successfully resuscitated him and prepared him for transport.

“This is a great example of why we work so hard as a team, whether it is as a flight nurse or paramedic monitoring vital signs at the hospital to get the patient flight ready or the pilot burning enough fuel so that the patient’s mom was able to ride with us,” said Tri-City LifeNet flight nurse Liz Lashley. “Our goal is to provide the best possible care for every patient, and we are so glad we were able to do that for Axel.”

Axel coded again mid-flight, but the LifeNet team succeeded in keeping him alive until they reached Omaha Children’s Hospital. There, he was admitted to the ICU and placed on an ECMO machine, which took over the function of his heart and lungs as doctors worked to treat the infection in his hip. After a difficult recovery, including time at Madonna Rehabilitation, Axel returned home and resumed life as a student at Hastings Middle School.

“We don’t always get to know what happens to our patients after we transport them,” said Flight Paramedic Josh Marshall. “So, to see Axel back in school, thriving—it means everything. It’s why we stay in this line of work.”

On Wednesday, more than a year after that harrowing day, Axel once again took flight—but this time, it was a joyful experience. With his peers and teachers cheering from the sidelines, he boarded the same aircraft that had once carried him in his fight for survival, now creating a new, uplifting memory with the LifeNet crew.

“I’ll never forget what this crew did for my son,” said Villeda. “They are angels sent from God to help save my son’s life.”

TriCity LifeNet offers comprehensive critical care across all ages, from infants to seniors, encompassing cardiac, trauma, high-risk obstetrics, and various other serious medical conditions. They can also accommodate requests for intra-aortic balloon pumps (IABP) and Impella cardiac devices, as well as administer warm, humidified oxygen to address specific pulmonary complications necessitating advanced mechanical ventilation support. All LifeNet helicopters in Nebraska, including TriCity LifeNet, carry and administer whole blood onboard every flight, which has been studied and proven to provide better outcomes for trauma patients.

Click here for photos of the reunion.