Sheriff’s Reserves Go the Distance for Salvadoran Girl Far From Care

On a mile-high mercy mission, a group of Orange County sheriff’s reserves flew a 2-year-old girl from her home in El Salvador to Los Angeles on Saturday for lifesaving heart surgery, authorities said.

Bridgette Rosemary Villialomos and her mother arrived at Van Nuys Airport aboard a private jet Saturday morning and were taken to UCLA Medical Center in Westwood, said sheriff’s spokesman Jon Fleischman. There, the toddler will undergo a battery of tests before surgeons operate, he said.

Without the surgery, the girl could die within weeks, Fleischman said. Because of damage inflicted by a series of recent earthquakes in El Salvador, the little girl was unable to find a local hospital that could provide the vital surgery, he said.

Four reserve deputies flew to El Salvador last night on a corporate jet provided by Gerard Guez, chief executive of Los Angeles-based Tarrant Apparel Group, Fleischman said. The trip cost $50,000 in donated services, he said.