Florida Attorney Answers Colombia First Lady's Urgent Plea, Airlifts 5,000 Pounds of Emergency Medical Aid Following Devastating 7.4 Earthquake

Rescue teams in Colombia are still digging through rubble, a full week after a powerful 7.4-magnitude earthquake shook the region. Nearly 300 people have lost their lives, and the number of those injured keeps climbing. The hospitals there are overwhelmed and running dangerously low on critical medicine and surgical equipment, they can’t even perform some surgeries right now.

On Monday, Dan Newlin, a Central Florida attorney, sent two planes packed with over 5,000 pounds of medical supplies from Florida to Bogotá. Newlin had been in Cali just hours before the earthquake, attending the presidential inauguration. After he met Colombia’s new president and first lady, she reached out to him for help in the aftermath of the disaster.

Dan Newlin, Orlando Attorney

Newlin didn’t hesitate. “I said, just give us a list, and I’ll make it happen,” he recalled. The first lady sent the list, and Newlin wasted no time contacting AdventHealth. Soon, they delivered a truck loaded with the supplies Colombia’s hospitals so desperately needed. “We were able to make good on every single item that they needed,” he said.

Courtesy Dan Newlin Social Media

Now, the supplies have arrived in Bogotá, a lifeline for local hospitals struggling to care for patients. For Newlin and his team, stepping up to help wasn’t a question. Colombia’s first lady even asked if they’d be willing to send more supplies in the future. “Of course we said yes,” Newlin replied.