The family of an eight-year-old girl who tragically died following a mid-flight medical emergency on a SkyWest flight has spoken out.
Sydney Weston - eight-years-old of Carl Junction - was on her way to Chicago with her family when she suffered an unspecified medical episode mid-flight and became unresponsive on Thursday (June 13).
SkyWest Flight 5121 - which took off from Joplin, Missouri - was diverted to Peoria, Illinois, about 45 minutes after take-off and forced to make an emergency landing.
First responders met the elementary school student at the General Wayne A. Downing Peoria International Airport after the aircraft landed, but the girl was "not breathing and had no pulse," per Peoria County Coroner's Office.
Sadly, Sydney was pronounced dead at 8:05AM after being transported to the OSF Healthcare Saint Francis Medical Center.
Now, her family has remembered their "ray of sunshine".
"Our hearts are shattered by the devastating loss of our precious daughter," the family said in a statement to VT. "We request privacy and respect as we cope with this profound grief."
"We found the words to honor Sydney the best we could right now," the family added, before sharing her obituary with the Woodard Mortuary & Crematory.
In their touching tribute, the family writes that Sydney "was very much looking forward to her family summer vacation and celebrating her 9th birthday the following week with her big plans for a skating party."
Adding that Sydney had an "infectious joy and vigorous love for life", the family says "she will forever be remembered for the happiness she brought to every single person she encountered.
"Our hearts are heavy. She was our baby girl and we celebrate her beautiful life."
"Her friends were so important to her, and she was a good friend to everyone," the tribute continued. "She was a girly girl who loved all things pink and pretty and a tomboy all in one.
"She’d never turn down an outdoor adventure: fishing with dad and brother, playing with remote cars, and digging into the dirt. Perhaps even more telling was her love of action/adventure movies and musicals all at the same time. She enjoyed soccer and golf."
A GoFundMe has also been launched to help assist the family at this time, with over $16,000 already raised through kind donations.
Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood disclosed to WGN that preliminary autopsy results show that the little girl's body showed no signs of abuse or neglect and that no evidence of foul play had been discovered.
“We will be awaiting histology, biopsies, cultures, blood hematology and chemistry, and toxicology testing. These tests generally take four to six weeks to result,” Harwood told the outlet.
“Once we have those tests completed, it is our hope that we will be able to provide a definitive and exact cause of death for this little girl and give her family some answers," he concluded.
Sydney Mae Weston is survived by her parents, Dan and Whitney Weston, and her adoring brother, Evan, as well as her grandparents, great grandmother, and aunts and uncles.
Our thoughts continue to go out to the Weston Family at this time.
