Matthew and Brian Dolan
Christina Dolan and her husband, Rick, live in Van Buren, which is along the Canadian border about 20 miles north of Caribou, Maine. They’re both originally from Boston, and while they have talked about moving back, uncertain of how feasible it is for them to live up north with a child with special medical needs, they are staying in the community they love because they know LifeFlight is there if they need it.
The People & Places behind Matthew and Brian’s Story
Location: Cary Medical Center (Caribou) to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center (Bangor)
Captain: Paul Dempsey
Captain: John Smith
Nurse: Denise Saucier
NICU Nurse: Laura Bach
NICU Nurse: Rick Abbott
Paramedic: Peter Garrett
CommSpec: Jeremy Bean
Asset: Fixed Wing
Location: Cary Medical Center (Caribou) to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center (Bangor)
Captain: Paul Dempsey
Captain: John Smith
First Officer: Brad Olsen
Nurse: Denise Saucier
NICU Nurse: Rick Abbott
Paramedic: Peter Garrett
CommSpec: Jeremy Bean
Asset: Fixed Wing
Location: Cary Medical Center (Caribou) to Maine Medical Center (Portland)
Captain: Kris Quam
Captain: Tad Woodilla
Nurse: Missy McCann
Paramedic: Mike Choate
CommSpec: Jeremy Bean
Asset: Fixed Wing
On September 25, 2020, Christina went into labor at 33 weeks. Rick brought her to Cary Medical Center in Caribou, and her medical team called LifeFlight to transport her quickly to Northern Light Eastern Maine Medical Center (EMMC) in Bangor. When the LifeFlight team arrived, they determined that she was too far into labor to transport safely. She would have to deliver her twins, Matthew and Brian, in Caribou.
The LifeFlight team turned around and went back to Bangor. They retrieved a team of two NICU nurses from EMMC and returned to Caribou for Matthew, his case being the more precarious due to a heart condition, and transported him to EMMC. The trip takes three hours by car, but LifeFlight’s airplane can make it in about 35 minutes. The team then flew back to Caribou for the third time that night to transport Matthew’s brother Brian to EMMC. “Before they took each baby, the nurse and the pilot came into the room and sat with me and gave me information,” Christina recalled. “It was super comforting.”
Matthew’s medical needs are complex. In April 2021, Matthew went to Boston for heart surgery. All appeared to be well, and he was discharged from the hospital. But five days after the family returned home to Van Buren, Matthew stopped breathing.
They rushed him to Cary Medical Center, where the team explained to Christina that he would need another LifeFlight transport. “Part of me was falling apart,” Christina said, “but the other part of me was like, ‘I know what they’re capable of,’ and I felt safe. I felt like we were going to get through this.”
“It was a feeling of relief that someone just knows what to do, especially in a rural area,” Christina remembers. Their home is 30 minutes from the nearest hospital, and the care Matthew may need in the future is much farther away. Christina and Rick feel like their family can continue to live in Van Buren, because LifeFlight is available in their community. “This is such an amazing resource. It’s unfortunate that we had to use it, but I’m thankful it was there,” said Christina. “In an emergency, we know what we have.”
The Dolan twins turned three in September 2023, Matthew Dolan (left) and Brian Dolan (right); photos courtesy of Christina Dolan.
First published as the September feature story in the LifeFlight of Maine 2024 Calendar.
