Sarah Danh is being flown to Texas for further treatment after suffering acute liver failure while on her honeymoon in Japan.
What began as an unforgettable trip turned into a race against time. Sarah Danh, a 27-year-old American woman, traveled to Japan with her 28-year-old husband, Luke Gradl, after getting married in Spring Branch, Texas, United States, but just two days later she suffered acute liver failure that left her in critical condition.
She is currently in the ICU in Tokyo, connected to continuous dialysis and other intensive care, while her condition remains unstable.
Her husband is trying to bring her back to the United States through a complex medical procedure, while also facing extremely high hospital costs.
This story has touched many people because of the drastic turn of events: from celebrating love to fighting for survival.
Sarah Danh is finally coming home.
The 27-year-old bride has been fighting for her life in Japan since her honeymoon turned into a tragedy nearly two weeks ago. On the second day, April 9, she experienced a “life-threatening deterioration in her health” and has since been hospitalized in the intensive care unit due to acute liver failure.
Danh’s family told the media that she is currently on an emergency medical evacuation flight with her husband, Luke Gradl, 28, bound for San Antonio, Texas. The flight is scheduled to land tonight, Tuesday, April 21, exactly one month after the couple exchanged “wedding vows.”
Danh’s mother, Le Le, flew back to the U.S. separately after previously joining the couple in Japan to “provide moral support.”
The flight was made possible thanks to AirMed and the company where Danh works. Danh works as an obstetric nurse at Methodist Stone Oak Hospital in San Antonio, and the hospital, along with HCA Healthcare, helped coordinate the return flight.
Gradl and Le are deeply grateful to everyone who made the evacuation possible.
“Thank you to HCA Healthcare and Methodist Hospital for providing the medical flight home,” they told the media. “That generosity means so much to us—more than we can put into words.”
Gradl and Le continued, “A huge thank you to the medical team in Japan—the doctors and nurses who worked tirelessly to keep Sarah stable until the evacuation. We will never forget your care and dedication. To the AirMed team, thank you for moving so quickly and making everything run smoothly when it mattered most. You truly made a difference for us. We are also deeply grateful to the team in San Antonio for being ready and waiting for Sarah. Knowing she would be in such good hands gave us peace of mind during a time of great uncertainty.”
Although Danh’s condition is stable, his fight for survival is not over yet. The cause of his sudden decline in health remains unknown, and he showed “no signs of illness” at his wedding on March 21. His family told the media that further medical testing and evaluation will be conducted in the U.S.
Hepatic encephalopathy is a serious decline in brain function caused by severe liver disease, according to the Mayo Clinic. When the liver is unable to filter toxins from the blood, those toxins build up and affect the brain’s ability to function, potentially leading to unresponsiveness, coma, or death. Gradl added that Danh was suffering from kidney failure and elevated intracranial pressure in addition to his acute liver failure.