A coordinated effort among the Pennsylvania National Guard, state-commissioned snow plows, and Pennsylvania State Police led to the safe transport of a 23-month-old boy in need of life-saving medical care from one hospital to another amid Tuesday’s major snowstorm.
The baby was taken from Lehigh Valley Hospital-Pocono in East Stroudsburg to Geisinger Janet Weis Children’s Hospital in Danville to undergo medical care Tuesday afternoon. According to WGAL, Pennsylvania Department of Transportation manned a plow and led the Stroudsburg to Danville trip.
Doctors traveled with the family to ensure the baby’s safety. The boy’s mother, who wished to remain anonymous, told NBC New York that the child was born prematurely and was diagnosed with a congenital heart defect. She claimed he was being moved from the East Stroudsburg hospital because didn’t they have the resources necessary to treat critical pediatric patients.
The mother also refuted initial reports that the tot was in need of a heart transplant.
Though there were no major road closings, low temperatures and increasing winds made travel difficult, according to the Associated Press. Some parts of eastern Pennsylvania reportedly dropped more than 20 inches of snow and sleet.
Despite this, Pennsylvania Governor Tom Wolf announced the 23-month-old made the 80-mile trip safely.
“The snow doesn’t stop us!” Pennsylvania State Police posted to Facebook on Tuesday.
Governor Wolf explained the lifesaving process in a statement to WPVI:
PennDOT led the way with a plow train, state police went with the group to make sure they were safe. The National Guard followed up to make sure that if anything happened they could help. And the local emergency responders and healthcare practitioners made sure the baby was safe while they made that trip.
“They did an awesome job in caring for my son and following the specialist’s requests to care for him until they could get him to Geisinger,” the child’s mother told NBC 10. “This hospital made sure to do everything they could to make sure our son got to his specialist to make sure to get him his best care.”
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