An 8-year-old girl died after suffering a medical emergency on a Chicago-bound flight Thursday morning, which was rerouted to land in Peoria, Illinois, officials said.
The Peoria County Coroner's Office said in a statement that the child was taken to a local hospital where she was pronounced dead, although emergency personnel took life-saving measures.
The child, whom they identified as 8-year-old Sydney Weston of Carl Junction, Missouri, was traveling with her family on vacation when she “suddenly became ill and then lost consciousness while flying,” the coroner's office said.
Image: An ambulance responding to an emergency call in an undated stock photo.
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“Her family immediately notified the flight crew of her condition, and they quickly began providing assistance,” the coroner’s office said.
When the plane made an emergency landing in Peoria, “she was not breathing and did not have a pulse,” according to the statement.
Weston was pronounced dead at 8:05 a.m. at OSF Healthcare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, the coroner's office said.
An autopsy on the child's body is scheduled for Friday, according to the statement.
