Carrie Brashear collapsed at her home in Peru, New York and has no memory of the urgent race that followed, an emergency journey across two hospitals and state lines to save her life.

She arrived by ambulance at University of Vermont Health – Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital, where emergency physician William Timbers, MD, evaluated her. Though she seemed stable at first, a bedside ultrasound revealed a small tear in her ascending aorta — an aortic dissection, a life-threatening condition that demands immediate surgery.

Recognizing the danger, Dr. Timbers initiated an urgent transfer.

Across the lake, UVM Medical Center prepared for her arrival. Cardiothoracic surgeon Elizabeth Pocock, MD, paused her work in the operating room to help coordinate the response. At Burlington International Airport, UVM Health’s critical care helicopter lifted off with pilot Brad Carlson, senior flight paramedic Jeff Patterson and flight nurse Orla Walsh.

Just 12 minutes later, the team landed at Champlain Valley Physicians Hospital. Working quickly with the emergency department, they stabilized Brashear — whose rising blood pressure threatened to worsen the dissection — and prepared her for transport. Within 45 minutes, she was airborne and en route to Burlington.

At UVM Medical Center, emergency and surgical teams were ready. Dr. Pocock took Brashear into an eight-hour open-heart surgery to replace the damaged section of her aorta and her aortic valve.

“It was an all-hands-on-deck situation. The entire system worked exactly the way it should, giving her the best chance of survival.” - Elizabeth Pocock, MD

Brashear spent the next week recovering, gradually regaining her strength before returning home to Peru — and her three beloved cats.

“I have such appreciation for everyone involved,” she says. “I am so thankful to all.”