The preliminary autopsy results for the eight-year-old girl who died following a mid-flight medical emergency on a SkyWest flight have been released.
Sydney Weston, eight, 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.
According to a news release issued by Peoria County Sheriff's Office, heartbreaking details have now emerged about the tragedy.
Officials shared that deputies, AMT Personnel, and Air National Guard Fire personnel began "life-saving measures" after the plane landed.
Peoria County Coroner's Office revealed in a separate statement that Weston was transported to OSF Healthcare Saint Francis Medical Center where she was unfortunately pronounced deceased at 8:05AM despite "aggressive resuscitative efforts," from staff.
"Please keep the child's family and everyone who was involved in this traumatic experience in your thoughts and prayers," they concluded.
Weston was traveling with her parents Whitney and Dan, and her older brother Evan.
Her family "immediately notified the flight personnel" after noticing their loved one's condition and this prompted on-flight staff to start "rapidly rendering aid," per Daily Mail.
Peoria County Coroner Jamie Harwood disclosed to WGN that preliminary 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 publication.
“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.
SkyWest is a regional airline that operates and maintains aircraft used by other major companies like Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, Alaska Airlines, and United Airlines. This particular flight was a partnership with United.
Flight 5121, which was scheduled to land in Chicago before the tragedy, took off to the Windy City again before 1:00PM on Thursday.
Our thoughts continue to go out to Weston's family and loved ones at this time.