A San Jose man on a flight to New York and headed to his daughter's wedding suffered a heart attack mid air.
The man miraculously survived and now his family is fighting to bring him back home to recover.
"My dad suffered a sudden cardiac arrest on the second leg of the flight," Jennifer Tran-Math said of the July 11 incident involving her father Thomas Math. "There was a physician on board and the Boy Scouts on the flight helped resuscitate my dad."
The plane, which departed from San Jose to New York, diverted to Pittsburgh where Thomas was rushed to Allegheny General Hospital.
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A few days later Jennifer still got married in New York, but says she felt a void.
"I wish he and my entire family were there," she said. "It was really hard for me."
Jennifer after the wedding flew to Pittsburgh to be with her father in the hospital.
California
Nearly a month later, the 71-year-old's condition is improving and he is breathing on his own -- something doctor's said might not happen. Now his children want to bring him home to continue his recovery.
"Because he is so far away from home, which is San Jose, it will cost $70,000 to air transport him to San Jose for care," Jennifer said.
Jennifer's younger sister Carolyn set up a GoFundMe account to raise money to bring her dad home.
"He can't talk to us, but he is fighting and so we have to fight for him too," Carolyn said.
Jennifer said her dad worked double shifts at an analog device company just to make ends meet and generously gives back to the community he loves. She is hoping he can return soon.
"My father lived in San Jose all his life and the only time he wanted to leave San Jose was for this wedding" she said.
