Mom who died on flight home from vacation drank mojitos the day before

US News

By Olivia Land

The Indiana mom of two who died on a flight home from the Dominican Republic last week sipped poolside mojitos and indulged in a steak dinner the night before she suddenly fell ill.

Stefanie Smith, 41, was seemingly the picture of health during her five-night stay at the Iberostar Grand Bavaro in Punta Cana, her friend and travel pal Maria Yannotti told the Daily Mail.

“The level of drinking never went beyond what I would call a nice little buzz. We pretty much had the same drinks. We enjoyed the strawberry mojitos made with Malibu rum,” she told the outlet of the trip, which also included trips to the resort’s five restaurants in between hours at the beach and by the pools.

On the last night of their trip, Smith, Yannotti, and their partners met for dinner at El Galeon, which bills itself as a luxe surf and turf eatery.

Both Smith and Yannotti had the ribeye steak paired with a bottle of Moscato, the latter recalled

“It’s five-star, very secure. I always felt very safe. The food was great. Everything was very clean, very upkept,” Yannotti told the Daily Mail of the meal.

No one on the trip complained about the food or feeling unwell at any point, she noted.

Smith, an X-Ray tech with two teenagers at home, also regularly visited the resort gym and ran along the white sandy beaches, the friend said.

“Stefanie was a ball of energy and personality. She was so much fun to be around. She could make anyone smile,” Yannotti lamented.

Yannotti and her husband were flying home to Georgia several hours after Smith and her boyfriend’s first return flight to Charlotte took off on Feb. 28, she explained.

She got her last text from Smith around 4:55 p.m. Eastern time, which read “Remind me to call you when we land in Charlotte, to tell you a funny story.”

Less than two hours later, however, Smith’s flight diverted to the Turks and Caicos after she started convulsing in her seat.

She was rushed to the local medical center, where she was declared dead. 

“We were sitting in Miami on our layover. The boyfriend called and said that he had something to tell us. He said Stefanie had died. She’s gone and he wasn’t sure what happened,” Yannotti told the Daily Mail.

“He said he looked at her and her head was tilted back into her seat. Her eyes were rolled into the back of her head and he thought she was making fun of him at first,” she continued.

“Then she started convulsing and that’s when he called for help and they performed CPR and the pilot decided to make the call to land,” the heartbroken friend said.

“It floored me. I was in complete shock. I had been texting her just minutes before we received that phone call,” Yannotti added.

Smith’s friends and family – including her 18- and 16-year-old kids – are now awaiting the results of a private autopsy, the Daily Mail reported.

“What’s happened is just devastating for everyone. We don’t know if it was just a freak accident or something more. Until we get the autopsy back it’s just a complete mystery, Yannotti said.

She had no known, pre-existing health conditions, her brother, Chris Volz, told the Daily Mail.

“Stefanie had just built a brand-new beautiful house. She had a great job, two great kids. She had absolutely everything going for her,” Yannotti said sadly.

“We all say life is short, live every day like it’s your last, that sort of thing. But you don’t truly appreciate what that means until something happens to someone you love,” she admitted.

As of Friday morning, a GoFundMe for Smith’s children had raised $87,000 of its $100,000 goal.