An Indiana doctor travels to the Caribbean in an attempt to find out why a happy, healthy mother of two died suddenly on a flight home from a dream vacation.
Stefanie Smith, 41, was returning from the Dominican Republic with her unknown boyfriend and another couple when she fell seriously ill just minutes after flight 2790 from Punta Cana to Charlotte, North Carolina.
The American Airlines plane was diverted to the Turks and Caicos Islands, where Smith was pronounced dead after being taken to the hospital.
“Everyone is in shock, waiting for news,” said his brother Chris Volz, “there are still a lot of unknowns.”
The IUPUI graduate worked as an X-ray technician at Memorial Hospital in South Bend and her sudden death has devastated friends and colleagues.
Stefanie Smith, 41, was minutes away from catching an American Airlines flight home from the Dominican Republic when she became fatally ill from an unknown cause on February 28.
A Gofundme petition has raised $78,000 for his teenage children Coen and Macee
Her friend and colleague Kristina Swinney (left) said Smith “wouldn’t let anyone have a bad day.”
“I can’t remember the last time I felt pain like this,” her friend Kristina Swinney wrote on Facebook.
—Today looking to my left, seeing that you’re gone and knowing that you won’t be back has left me in a mess, Stef.
“Today’s news has devastated us.”
TO gofundme The appeal to raise money for his two teenage children, Coen and Macee, had raised $78,000 as of Wednesday morning, including contributions from passengers who were on his last fatal flight.
“I didn’t know Stefanie, but I was in line in front of her,” wrote Erika Remillard-Hagen.
‘When I was 41, my two children were the same age as hers. My heart breaks for her family.’
“Today we talked about how you wouldn’t let anyone have a bad day,” Swinney wrote on Facebook, “you had no part in it.”
‘I’ll miss the ‘Hello darling!’ Morning greeting, playing with my hair, listening to the latest story of the date, our country’s karaoke, shots of Diet Coke and putting my cold hands on your hot back,’ she added.
The two children, photographed in September last year, are now in the care of their father Eric.
“She gave her best every day for you,” Swinney told her children, “know that your mom would want you to achieve your goals and always strive to be better versions of yourselves.”
Dad Eric Smith, pictured with Stefanie in 2020, is now looking after the kids.
“You were the energy of work.”
“The doctors working in that room will suffer a lot,” added his colleague Linda Kulikowski.
‘She single-handedly made them feel comfortable enough to show their true personalities. I know they not only looked forward to working with her, but they loved the relationship she developed with each of them.
“I really hope you realized its impact.”
Her sister-in-law Stephanie Quinn described her as the only girl of five children and the mother of two “beautiful children with big hearts and A’s.”
“We are in disbelief and our hearts are broken,” he added.
Coen and Macee are in the care of their father Eric as their family tries to cope with their grief.
“She gave her best every day for you and worked hard to make sure she provided for you both,” Swinney wrote.
“This GoFundMe won’t ease your pain, but in the future, know that your mom will want you to achieve your goals and always strive to be better versions of yourself.”
Volz said no one in the family knew her sister had any pre-existing conditions before she flew to the Caribbean on Feb. 24.
He said he couldn’t “believe it was true” after learning of his death from his parents on Wednesday night, and said everything seemed to be in “slow motion.”
He told the Mail that his sister called him regularly because “she always wanted to affirm her love.”
Members of Smith’s family in the last photo he posted on Facebook.
The airline said the flight continued its journey to Charlotte the next day.
The family will send their own doctor to the Caribbean to perform an autopsy before his body is brought back to Indianapolis for a celebration of life ceremony on Sunday.
“The love he shared with Coen and Macee cannot be measured or described in words,” fundraiser Kristi Spratt wrote on the appeal page.
‘Furthermore, her endless love for her family, friends and community will leave a lasting impact on all who had the privilege of knowing her.
“Stefanie will be deeply missed by all who knew her, and we pray that the memory of her kind soul lives on forever.”