NEED TO KNOW
- A husband and father died suddenly during an international flight while returning home from celebrating his wife’s birthday with her
- Relatives identified 39-year-old Andres Castro of Oregon as the victim
- “This is not a grief we ever imagined facing so soon,” one of his siblings said
An Oregon man has died after suffering a heart attack during a flight home with his wife as they were celebrating her birthday in Bolivia.
Andres Castro, 39, of Clackamas, was identified as the victim, according to a GoFundMe organized by one of his younger siblings, Teo Ramirez.
The fundraiser was started to help transport Castro home after his sudden death on Monday, Aug. 25, which was described as “an unimaginable loss,” as his family navigates how to retrieve his body from foreign authorities.
Castro and his wife, Suanny, were visiting her family in Bolivia for her birthday when tragedy struck on the couple’s return flight home.
“On their flight back to the U.S., my brother suddenly stopped breathing. The plane made an emergency landing in Colombia, where we learned he had suffered a heart attack. Despite being rushed to the hospital, it was too late,” Ramirez said.
Castro leaves behind a son named AJ, siblings, and a mother and father “who loved him deeply.”
“This is not a grief we ever imagined facing so soon,” Ramirez said.
Another one of Castro’s siblings, Tiffany Castro, told KOIN 6 News, “We all miss him. We just can’t believe he’s gone.”
“I feel broken, our whole family, it’s hard, trying to keep it together the best that we can,” she continued.
In the GoFundMe, Ramirez said their mother began experiencing heart failure in April, and the siblings had been taking care of her as primary caregivers since. “We’re stretched thin and our focus is bringing my brother’s body back to Oregon,” Ramirez said.
Tiffany shared some of her favorite memories of her older brother with the news station, saying, “Every time we were together he was just so funny.”
For now, the family is working hard to be able to give him a proper burial in his country.
“It’s a process with the embassy and my family,” she said. “We’re all just trying to work together to figure it out.”
According to the GoFundMe, that can cost around $25,000 to prepare and transport Andres’ body back to Oregon and hold a funeral for him.
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As of Wednesday, Aug. 26, the family has raised just over $14,000.
Ramirez asked that those who weren’t able to make a donation share the GoFundMe link, offer prayers or both “as we walk this difficult road.”
“We put our trust in God and know that He will provide a path forward. He always makes a way,” the sibling said.
Tiffany added, “It’s just hard to believe that he’s not here. That’s all.”
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