YUMA, Ariz., Aug. 11 (UPI) -- A National Guardswoman from Pennsylvania died a day after collapsing while patrolling the border between Mexico and Arizona.
Spec. Kirsten Fike was airlifted to the Yuma Regional Medical Center, where she died 24 hours later on Thursday.
"Fike died while answering the president's call to monitor our borders to keep illegal aliens from entering the United States," Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell said. "Not only has the Pennsylvania National Guard lost a dedicated soldier, her death means her 13-year-old son, Cody, has lost a mother."
Fike, a former member of the U.S. Air Force, joined the National Guard June 12. She was a member of military police unit based in Greensburg and was one of 60 Pennsylvania Guard members sent to Arizona to assist with border patrol.
She was part of a four-member team on a 12-hour mission to look for illegal border crossers when she collapsed.
