Man pays for flight so injured Dallas officer can return home

By Tanya Eiserer Dallas Morning News
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DALLAS — A Dallas police officer, hospitalized for more than two weeks in Denver after suffering severe dehydration and blood clotting, arrived home via air ambulance Monday evening.

Officer Alex Garcia, 22, had been at Swedish Medical Center since July 8, when he became severely dehydrated at a Police Explorers conference and ended up in the intensive care unit with blood clots. He underwent three surgical procedures to remove the clots. Garcia and his 20-year-old wife, Rosa, were brought back to Dallas by CareFlite air ambulance. Their flight landed at Love Field Airport shortly after 6 p.m.

The $7,500 flight was paid for by McKinney resident Eugene Knies after the city's insurance carrier, United Healthcare, declined to cover the cost. They said his benefit plan didn't cover the flight. CareFlite officials also said the flight normally would have cost about $20,000, but that they lowered their price to assist in the effort to bring Garcia home. Garcia will now undergo rehabilitation at UT Southwestern Medical Center's Zale Lipshy Hospital.