One hour later, Lori sits alone in the bedroom. The rescue service provided Franz with initial medical treatment and, suspecting a stroke, drove him in the ambulance to a regional hos­pital. The children didn’t notice a thing and are still fast asleep. Lori decided not to wake them. The family will only be able to visit Franz the next morning in hospital. She noted the name of the hospital on a piece of paper. It's the only information she has. The worst thing for Lori: “I didn’t know how critical his condition was and wondered all night whether he would even be alive when we arrive.” She waits in vain for information about his condition. “I’ll never for­get this feeling of uncertainty on the trip to the hospital with the children the next morning.”

Once at the regional hospital, Lori finally finds out what happened during the night: Franz has since been transferred to a central hospital for further tests. The suspected diag­nosis was confirmed: a stroke. This was the rea­son why he could no longer speak clearly and was paralysed on one side. Franz is still confused. “It took him about two days to understand the situation”, Lori says. During this time she was in close contact with the family: with her sister, who's a doctor, and her sister-in-law, who works for a health insur­ance company.

“I didn’t even think about Rega at first”, says Lori, who grew up in the USA. “Franz simply gave me a Rega card every year for me and the children.” She didn’t realise that Rega also offers assistance for medical problems abroad. On the advice of those around her, she contacts Rega. “I was so relieved to hear from the Rega flight coordinator that Franz could be transferred by ambulance jet to the Insel­spital in Bern and that they would organise everything.”

One week later, the time had come: Franz’s condition allowed him to be repatriated. The Rega jet lands in Marseille (F), and an am­bulance drives the patient directly onto the apron. Rega flight physician Miguel Teixeira Marques and intensive care nurse Luca Bäch­li get into the ambulance with him. “During the handover, the ‘clinical’ impression is key, in other words, our assessment of his condi­tion”, Miguel Teixeira Marques explains. The medical crew checks if his actual condition cor­responds to what they expected, based on the preliminary clarification by the Rega consult­ing physicians. They ask Franz a few questions and test if and how much feeling he has in his right foot and leg, despite being paralysed on one side. Luca Bächli also checks if he can find intravenous access in the left arm. “In case his condition deteriorates suddenly on board, we wouldn’t have to insert a needle again and can administer any medications intravenously”, he explains.

Fifteen minutes later, Franz is strapped in to one of the two intensive-care beds in the Rega jet. His ten year-old son Gabriel sits close by, between the two pilots, on the jump seat and wears a headset. Captain Marc Bühlmann, also a father, learned that the twins are aviation fans and offered them the special seat near the cockpit for take-off and landing. His eyes shin­ing, Gabriel tries to make eye contact with his mother, who is sitting at the rear of the cabin with his brother Elijah, and gives her a thumbs-up sign. “I can even hear the aircraft radio!” It seems that the boy can forget the difficult sit­uation at least for a few moments. “Sometimes it’s the little things that help us improve the situation for the family”, says Marc Bühlmann. The flight proceeds without any problems. Franz tells the crew that he never expected to suffer a stroke at age 63: “I lead a healthy life and am active.” Returning home now gives him a feeling of security that he didn't have in the hospital far from home.

Shortly before landing in Bern, the whole family looks out of the aircraft windows on the left-hand side: They can see where they live in the Three Lakes Region. Their immense re­lief at being back home is palpable. Just after noon, co-pilot Mathieu Wanner lands the Rega jet gently on the runway of Bern-Belp airport. The ambulance that will drive Franz and his family to the Inselspital is already waiting at the gate. Meanwhile, Lori is still very impressed by the “Rega system” which she didn’t know, and when saying goodbye, thanks the Rega crew for the flight coordinators having organised everything – from the taxi in France to the airport through arranging for the luggage to notifying the hospital and the transport to the Inselspital. “I didn’t have to worry about any­thing, that was a huge relief.”

A few weeks later, Franz can go home from the hospital. After a stay at a rehab clinic and with the support of outpatient therapy, he has to find his way back to “normal” life – at home in the Three Lakes Region, in the bosom of his family.