SAN JUAN, Puerto Rico – Carlos Soleres helped a terminally ill family friend get airlifted out of Puerto Rico.
"It is life or death," he said. "If you have got an aging parent that has health issues and they have a medical emergency. They need to get out."
Soleres has a home in San Juan and has ridden out hurricanes before, but nothing like Hurricane Maria, and he said the devastating aftermath is taking its toll on the sick and elderly.
"If you have got an emergency, you are not going to make it," he said.
Raquel Fernandez was airlifted out of Puerto Rico with her mother.
"My mom, she is in a wheelchair. She cannot walk and my father is 80 or 81," Fernandez said.
Fernandez's mother is terminally ill. Her 16th-floor apartment had no power and fuel as the generators were quickly running out.
The Fernandez family is one of the lucky few to leave the island and its unforgiving conditions. A Trinity Air Ambulance International Learjet 35 flew in from South Florida to get them out.
"We know that the help is going to come, like fuel and gas, but the thing is, it is taking a little bit long," Fernandez said.
Soleres said hospitals are not doing well in the area and that a lot of them have run out of diesel fuel.
Local 10 News flew in with Trinity's medical staff and around San Juan's bustling airport you could see damage to the infrastructure, but it is finally open. There were military aircraft coming and going from the U.S. mainland and around the world to give aid to Puerto Rico.
Holding her mother’s hand, Fernandez had mixed feeling about leaving her home and those that helped her.
"People there helping each other was really nice. People were very nice helping us. Bringing us water," she said.
