85-year-old South Florida resident stranded in Bahamas finally evacuated on air ambulance

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. – An 85-year-old American citizen from South Florida left stranded in the Bahamas following Hurricane Dorian has finally returned home. 

Virginia Mosvold boarded a Trinity Air Ambulance on Monday afternoon to receive medical treatment, but it wasn't long ago her situation seemed bleak to some family members. 

"I didn't think we were going to survive," Sissel Johnson, Virginia's daughter, said.

The women were trapped in their Bahamas home for two days before receiving help.

"We had to go up in the attic in a matter of minutes," Sissel said. 

She explained that her husband used electrical wires to build a makeshift hammock so Virginia could remain above the dangerous rising water. 

"We didn't know whether the roof was going to blow off, whether the water was going to keep rising," Sissel said.

When emergency workers finally arrived, Sissel said they were unable to read Virginia's blood pressure because she was so dehydrated. 

Virginia has been taken to a hospital where she will receive X-rays, an electrocardiogram and lab work. 


About the Author:

In January 2017, Hatzel Vela became the first local television journalist in the country to move to Cuba and cover the island from the inside. During his time living and working in Cuba, he covered some of the most significant stories in a post-Fidel Castro Cuba.