‘God put us on the same flight’: Doctor makes house call at 30,000 feet to help Palatine man

What began as a routine international flight turned into a medical emergency for 71-year-old Larry Stoklosa of Palatine, who lost consciousness while flying from Germany to Chicago in May.

Fortunately, Dr. Jacqueline Ivey-Brown, an internal medicine physician and chief medical officer of Advocate Health Care’s North Illinois Area, was aboard to provide critical care.

The two were reunited this week at Advocate Good Shepherd Hospital in Lake Barrington — their first meeting since the May 2 emergency.

Both exchanged hugs and were able to relax and laugh, in contrast to the urgent medical situation over the Atlantic.

“This was great,” Ivey-Brown said. “I’m just happy that he’s OK.”

Stoklosa, a retired hairdresser returning from a trip to Italy, felt fine when boarding in Frankfurt.

“I went to sleep because I was real tired,” he said.

Stoklosa lost consciousness as the plane charted its course. His traveling companion found him unresponsive and alerted a nurse in their group, who told the flight attendants.

The flight crew then turned to Ivey-Brown, who had already come to the rescue earlier when she assisted another passenger experiencing a rapid heart rate before the plane pulled away from the gate. That passenger deplaned before takeoff.

A flight attendant tapped her on the shoulder and asked, “Are you the doctor that helped earlier?” Ivey-Brown recalled. “She said, ‘We have another emergency.’”

When she reached Stoklosa, he was starting to wake up — his head was down but his eyes were open. She patted his hand and asked if he was OK, and he said, “I’m OK.”

However, she noticed his hands were cold and his nails blue.

The airplane quickly became a makeshift medical unit. The team included Ivey-Brown, a nurse anesthetist passenger and a well-prepared flight crew.

The plane carried an impressive array of medical supplies, said Ivey-Brown, who was headed back to Chicago after a trip to Vienna. There was a stethoscope, an oxygen tank, an IV kit and blood pressure medications.

“There were medications on board that I would not expect an airplane to have available,” she said, including medications for heart emergencies and anxiety attacks.

When Stoklosa's oxygen levels were low, the crew provided an oxygen tank. The medical team established an IV line, with the anesthetist hanging the IV bag from an overhead compartment.

Ivey-Brown diagnosed syncope (fainting) and administered small doses of Metoprolol when his blood pressure spiked to dangerous levels. Stoklosa's knowledge of his normally low blood pressure proved crucial in determining proper dosages.

Paramedics met the aircraft at O’Hare International Airport and transported Stoklosa to Resurrection Hospital, just blocks from where he grew up in Chicago’s Edison Park neighborhood.

Ivey-Brown initially worried about a blood clot in the lung. But X-rays revealed double pneumonia, which was treated with antibiotics. After four hours of emergency treatment, Stoklosa was released but required another hospitalization weeks later when the pneumonia persisted.

“I started feeling pretty good, but I must have had a relapse, because I wasn’t feeling good for a couple days,” Stoklosa said.

He spent four days at Northwest Community Hospital in Arlington Heights.

Stoklosa believes he may have accidentally inhaled food in Italy, leading to the pneumonia. He suspects dehydration contributed to his collapse.

“We were doing a lot of stuff in Italy, constantly moving, so I didn't get proper hydration,” he said.

The experience taught him to stay hydrated while traveling and forged an unlikely friendship. He fondly calls Ivey-Brown his “BMFF” — best medical flight friend.

“I don't believe in coincidence,” Stoklosa said. “I believe God put us on the same flight, and I want to thank her from the bottom of my heart.”

The experience reinforced Ivey-Brown's view of the dedication required by her profession:

“You truly are a doctor 24/7. It's not a nine-to-five job.”