College Freshman Dies on Flight Home for Christmas Break

College Freshman Dies on Flight Home for Christmas Break

In a truly heartbreaking and sad story, made only worse that it happened just days before Christmas, a college freshman dies on flight returning home from San Diego to Minnesota fell asleep on the plane and never woke up.

It all seemed a normal day on December 22nd, when Griffin Gutwa called his parents before boarding a flight home for Christmas break.

The Twin Cities Pioneer Press writes:

About an hour into the flight, Griffin asked for a drink of warm water. He drank it, and leaned his head against the window and fell asleep, according to other passengers on the plane.

The family is still trying to understand exactly what happened next.

The passenger next to him became concerned when his breathing changed, and called for a flight attendant. The attendant checked on him, realized something was wrong and asked for a medical professional to help.

Gutwa was not breathing, so the professional began CPR and the pilot began looking for a place to make an emergency landing. The nearest airport was in Sioux Falls, S.D.

Gideon Gutwa, the father of the teen, showed up to the airport to pickup his son.  The father saw the flight was delayed for two hours, so he used the delay as an opportunity to go pickup the rest of his family for Griffin’s arrival.  It was when the father returned to pick up his son that security personnel notified him that he should go to an office located in the airport.

It was there that Mr. Gutwa was notified that his son had passed away.  His body was kept in South Dakota, where the plane made an emergency landing during the medical emergency.

This is a holiday reminder to live every moment and enjoy every moment.  You really never can tell when something like this might happen.  This is truly heartbreaking, and our thoughts and prayers go out to Griffin’s family during this very difficult time.