January 15, 2026 | 40 Years of STARS, Allies, Innovation, Our Patients

Celebrating 40 years of STARS, December 2025

Every month, we’re collecting stories celebrating 40 years of STARS Allies, Very Important Patients, and Innovation. These were the stories we highlighted in the month of December 2025.

Forty Years of STARS Allies

Western Sales

A participant patch on a blue flight suit shoulder showing the 2025 STARS Rescue on the Prairie patch and a second patch with the sponsor Western Sales logo.

Western Sales has been a steadfast and generous partner to STARS since 2013, consistently demonstrating an extraordinary commitment to the people and communities we serve. Their support has strengthened our operations in countless meaningful ways, playing a key role in advancing our mission and expanding our impact.

Thanks to their remarkable contributions, thousands of patients across the Prairies have received critical, life-saving care precisely when they needed it most. Their dedication has not only helped us respond in moments of crisis, but has also empowered us to continue driving the innovation and education needed to provide critical care, anywhere.

Forty years of STARS Very Important Patients

Esther and Kaycee Stern

STARS Very Important Patients Kaycee and Esther Stern pose along their father and husband Wade on their property. This photo was one of a series taken for the 2025 STARS Calendar.

In 1995, a 36-week-pregnant Esther Stern and her husband, Wade, were driving along a road near their rural home. They were on their way to a prenatal class at the hospital when, suddenly, they collided with a truck.

The collision caused multiple injuries. When emergency medical services arrived, Esther began to regain consciousness, and her water broke while she was still in the car. Soon after, she was flown by a STARS air medical crew to hospital and received care on board.

Once she arrived at hospital, Esther was rushed for an emergency C-section and delivered her daughter, Kaycee.

Esther went on to make a full recovery, and three decades later, she and her husband have raised their three daughters on their family ranch and are now grandparents.

Learn more about Esther and Kaycee’s story.

Forty years of STARS Innovation

NICU Patient Transport

A STARS air medical crew member tends to a patient in the NICU isolette in this STARS file photo.

STARS has introduced a new interface within the helicopter to securely mount and operate a NICU isolette in flight. Previously, NICU teams and their equipment could travel with STARS to the patient’s side, but newborns requiring intensive care then had to travel by ground ambulance to the hospital instead of by helicopter.

During the most recent fleet upgrade, STARS team members developed a specialized configuration that allows the isolette, infant, and their medical team to be safely secured within the aircraft. After receiving Transport Canada approval and completing practice missions with NICU partners, STARS crews can now provide neonatal transport directly by helicopter, increasing access to critical care for some of our most vulnerable patients.

Learn more about STARS’ first ever NICU transport in Saskatchewan.