An Arkansan participating in a pioneer trek re-enactment in northeast Oklahoma with youth of The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is believed to have died of a heatstroke earlier this week, church officials said.
Meaghan Blair, 29, was joined by her husband, Michael Blair, as a “ma and pa couple” on the Mormon youth trek near Pawhuska, Okla., when she became ill about 6.5 miles into their 7-mile journey Monday, according to a family statement.
Blair, a member of the Rogers stake, was then taken by ATV to a medical tent and treated on-site by a doctor and registered nurses. Seizures during treatment later prompted her to be transported by helicopter to a hospital in Tulsa, about 55 miles southeast of Pawhuska, the family said.
According to the statement, Blair was pronounced dead at 1:15 a.m. Tuesday at the hospital.
"Careful planning went into the event and specific plans were made to cope with the anticipated hot weather," the family's statement reads in part.
Temperatures in the area reached the mid-90s that day, according to the National Weather Service.
The neighboring Bentonville stake said in a statement on its Facebook page that Blair was "afflicted with what appears to be a heatstroke and was life-flighted to Tulsa." A cause of death has not been confirmed, Blair's family said.
Deborah Neria, spokesman for the Rogers stake, called her death a "heartbreaking loss for her family and all who knew her."
Blair's father, Brad Querry, said in a statement posted early Tuesday that he was appreciative of “all of the expressions of sympathy and prayers” and "support and kindness over these last few hours."
“She lived an epic life of cheerful devotion to Mike and the kids,” Querry said, referencing Blair's two young children.
In a manual, the Mormon church lists the role of a "ma and pa couple" as adults who "help set the tone of spirituality and unity that is essential in making the trek successful."
Those participating in the treks, which re-enact the journey Mormon pioneers took west across the Plains to Utah in the 19th century, are advised to check weather conditions and take water breaks every 20 to 30 minutes.