MA Sisters Save Passenger's Life On Florida-Bound Flight

WAYLAND, MA — Two Wayland sisters with medical expertise were called to save another woman's life during a flight to Florida earlier this month.

Wayland firefighter and paramedic Lindsay Byrne and her sister, Nicole Kelly, a nurse at Lahey Hospital in Burlington, were flying from Boston to Fort Meyers on Aug. 1 when flight attendants asked for help after a passenger was found unconscious in a bathroom.

Byrne and Kelly found the woman with a low pulse, gray skin and shallow breathing. They knew the woman was likely experiencing a diabetic emergency, and so they sat her up and fed her sugar packets, according to a Wayland Fire Department news release. A firefighter from Florida was also on the flight and helped with the medical assessment.

The sisters kept watch over the woman until the plane landed in Florida and the passenger was taken to a hospital.

"Seeing this training and professionalism kick into action beyond our small community and in an environment with limited resources is a proud moment for the department that made a difference in someone's life," Wayland Fire Chief Neil McPherson said in a news release.

Byrne joined the Wayland Fire Department in 2018, and also helps run the department's school-based Student Awareness of Fire Education (SAFE) program.