A daughter recounts the night journey, unexpected flight, and urgent surgery that saved her mother’s life.
Story by Gino Antsatiana Randrianasolo
When Rasoarimalala Meltine was safely flown home after nearly a month of treatment, her family knew they had witnessed something far greater than medical skill alone.
“If we were only two days late,” her daughter, Rakotoarison Landihasina Yollande, said, “she would have died.”
Meltine, a 58-year-old mother of seven, had suddenly fallen ill.
What began as a simple flu worsened rapidly, as Meltine stopped eating and suffered from fevers. Concerned, her relatives brought her from her home in the capital, Antananarivo, to the nearest best-equipped hospital in Ihazolava, a larger town in the district of Ambatolampy, Antsirabe. There, doctors conducted examinations and radiography, but a diagnosis remained uncertain.
“We didn’t realise yet how serious it was,” Landihasina said. “I don’t know much about medical conditions, so at first, I wasn’t too worried.”
We didn’t realise yet how serious it was
Everything changed when the test results were sent to Good News Hospital in Mandritsara, where one of Meltine’s daughters works as a nurse.
“When the response came back from Mandritsara, we knew immediately that her condition was very serious.”
Doctors in Ihazolava warned that waiting to transfer Meltine for surgery by road could be fatal.
Meanwhile, the family hesitated to seek care locally in Antananarivo, the capital. Mandritsara, despite its distant location in the island’s north, felt like the right place. That was when the family received unexpected instructions: a flight had been scheduled to spare them the 30-hour drive. Meltine’s daughter at Good News Hospital had coordinated an emergency flight with MAF.
“We knew nothing about MAF,” Landihasina said. “We were simply told, ‘Go to the airport as fast as possible.’”
The 96 km journey itself was an ordeal. They left Ihazolava hospital at 8 pm and arrived at the airport around 1 am, slowed by poor roads. But at sunrise, Meltine was airborne.
“I was operated on the same day,” Meltine said. “That afternoon.”
Doctors later told the family that she ideally should have had surgery that morning, but another procedure was already underway. The operation began at 1 pm and ended at 3:30 pm – and was successful.
“I had already accepted whatever God wanted,” Landihasina added. “But God was in control of everything. He kept my mother alive.”
God was in control of everything. He kept my mother alive
Meltine stayed in Mandritsara for nearly a month to recover. Recently, she and Landihasina flew back home to the capital, this time with relief instead of fear.
“We don’t always know the full story of our passengers,” Rutger Bakker, the pilot, said. “But hearing what this woman had been through was a reminder that every flight matters, even when we don’t see the whole picture.”
The experience also changed how Landihasina sees MAF.
“We had heard about MAF before,” she said. “Our church prays for MAF when we pray for evangelisation, but we didn’t really know much about what they do. Now we know more.”
What once sounded like the name of a distant ministry became a lifeline when time was running out.
“God was there the whole time,” Landihasina said.
God was there the whole time