Alabama students in Peru trying to get back home

Students with ties to North Alabama are among the hundreds of Americans the U.S. State Department is trying to get home

Monday.

We have a team stood up at the state department, the repatriation task force, that is working each of these instances.

Students with ties to north alabama are among the hundreds of americans the u.s. state department is trying to get home.

That's despite restrictions related to the worldwide coronavirus outbreak.

Students from the university of south alabama and other southern universities are stranded in peru.

They are pleading with representatives for help.

Waay 31's will robinson-smith spoke with some students caught up in the travel ban as the coronavirus continues to spread.

As of right now, there are 234 confirmed cases of coronavirus in peru.

Five days ago, there were 71 cases.

Some of the folks from the university of south alabama say they have family here in madison county eagerly awaiting their safe return and while a few of them were able to make it out before the borders closed, most are still hoping to find a way home.

Maddie jones, able to fly back to alabama it was probably the most stressful and emotional 30 hours we have ever done.

Maddie jones and paramedic classmate sydney valentine are back in their apartment in mobile under quarantine.

They and about 18 other students from three southern universities spent a week in peru as part of the first study abroad program for paramedic students.

But the trip took an unexpected turn when the peruvian government announced on sunday that it would close its borders the next day.

Sydney valentine, able to fly back to alabama it was probably, and we make a lot of hard in our field, it was probably one of the hardest decisions we've ever had to make.

The decision was to make their flight, knowing they would have to leave others behind.

Valentine and jones along with one other classmate scrambled through the airport to make it out of the country.

Sydney valentine, able to fly back to alabama if we wouldn't have made that 11:59 flight, if our wheels had not been up, they were going to unload the entire plane, send us all back into the airport in lima and we were going to have to find a hotel and find a place to stay.

That was the reality for fellow south student, will rayner.

He said an issue printing his ticket that stopped him from getting on a flight to miami in time.

Now he's stuck in a hotel with other americans.

Will rayner, stuck in lima, peru i may be separated from my group, separated from family and friends, but there's this large sense of community here and people are taking care of others.

So that is what i'm relying on at this point in time.

Meanwhile, back in cusco, paramedic instructor joel ellzie is doing everything he can to get the rest of them home while trying to keep the remaining students with him hopeful.

Joel ellzie, paramedic instructor, university of south alabama having gone through multiple disasters in my career as a paramedic, hurricane katrina being the big one, that is a big thing you have to do is keep everyone calm, let's think rationally, let's make good decisions and be able to get out.

This evening, u.s. southern command posted these photos to twitter, stating that they used a air force c-130 plane to bring back member of the u.s. women's soccer team who were stuck in honduras.

President trump mentioned on wednesday that the military would help bring some americans home.

Both the students from south and from the other three colleges have been using the hashtag "stuck in peru" to draw attention to their situation.

Joel ellzie also told me that a couple of his students have asthma, and one of them has limited medication with her.

So getting home is especially important before they're dealing with another potential emergency.

Reporting live in huntsville, will robinson-smith, waay 31 news.