8-year-old Sydney Weston suddenly became ill and dies on a flight from Joplin to Chicago

Update: The child, 8-year-old Sydney Weston, of Carl Junction, MO, was traveling with her family for vacation when she suddenly became ill and then unresponsive in flight.

Her family immediately notified the flight personnel of her condition, and they began rapidly rendering aid. Upon landing in Peoria, she was not breathing and had no pulse.

Deputies, AMT Personnel, and Air National Guard Fire personnel immediately began life-saving measures.

Little Weston was emergently transported to OSF Healthcare Saint Francis Medical Center in Peoria, where, despite aggressive resuscitative efforts, she was pronounced deceased at 8:05 am this morning.

An autopsy is scheduled for tomorrow, and this release will be updated with more following those preliminary findings.

Original Report:

(Peoria County, IL) – Thursday, June 13th, 2024, at approximately 7:00 am, Peoria County Sheriff’s Office Deputies responded to 6100 W. Everett McKinley Dirksen Parkway on a flight landing at the Peoria International Airport for a medical emergency.

The commercial flight originated from Joplin, Missouri and was intended to land in Chicago.

When the plane landed Deputies, AMT Personnel, and Air National Guard Fire personnel immediately received the 8-year-old female child and began life-saving measures.

The child was transported to a local hospital by AMT where she was unfortunately pronounced deceased.