WASHINGTON – The U.S. military is attempting to save a young woman's life in the former Soviet Republic of Kyrgyzstan, senior Central Command officials said on Monday.
During a tour of local hospitals in Kyrgyzstan, U.S. military doctors based on the ground came upon a 19-year-old woman who had undergone surgery for intestinal troubles.
The surgery was poorly done, and her entire intestinal cavity became infected. The doctors determined that she would die within weeks if she was not immediately transported to a hospital with better facilities.
"The U.S. military can't go around the world saving everyone. However, in this instance we knew we could save this girl's life -- so we made it happen," a senior Central Command official told Fox News.
After days of red tape and working through Central Command, the Department of Defense and the State Department, the authority was given to transport the young woman first to Lanstul Regional Medical Facility in Germany, and then to a hospital in the United States.
An Air Force C-17 specially outfitted for Medivac operations took off from Kyrgyzstan Monday with a Military Critical Care Air Transport Team to move the ailing woman to Germany.
While Central Command denies that the decision to help the girl was political, the U.S. military sees Kyrgyzstan's support and basing as "very important for the region."
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