Local college student home after travel delays from Peru, other Americans still there

WARNER ROBINS, Georgia (41NBC/WMGT) – A local college student who was stuck in Peru while doing medical rotations is back home. COVID-19 risks caused the Peruvian president to declare a state of emergency, resulting in Erin Hill and her peers struggling to get home.

Hill, a physician’s assistant at Augusta University, is back home in Warner Robins after being stuck in Peru for more than a week due to being quarantined.

Hill was was in Peru doing OBGYN rotations. She says she had the opportunity to help fill the gap of women’s health care needs and learn from doctors.

What was supposed to be a four-week rotation was cut short. She and her peers were notified on March 13 that their rotations were canceled because of COVID-19. She says they immediately searched for flights but couldn’t find any that were immediate.

“Monday the 23rd, we received an e-mail that said you’ll be on the next flight out of Cusco, so we were excited,” Hill said. “And then the next day came around all of the flights were grounded.”

This resulted in the students making a social media post which grabbed the attention of U.S lawmakers to step in and help bring them home.

“There were days we thought we were going home and we thought it was maybe the next day and got excited,” Hill said. “Then it would come to that day and we couldn’t. Something went wrong.”

Hill says they were quarantined inside their hotel rooms with limited resources and could only go to grocery stores or doctor’s offices.

“We ran out of Peruvian currency,” Hill said. “Everything was closed. If that lasted any longer, e weren’t going to have the resources we need.”

Hill says she made it home last Thursday with the help of her family and government, but there are still Americans at a hostel in Peru waiting to make it home.

Hill is encouraging people to keep praying for the Americans in Peru and to reach out to your local lawmakers to help get them home.