Words cannot begin to describe my thankfulness to Angel Flight and all who are involved in this charity.

Twelve months ago I was terrified as to the outcome and complexity of getting a liver transplant, not to mention the fact that I had to get from the middle of Michigan to Rochester, Minnesota, in record time. Everything had to be synchronized—from the moment the hospital received the liver to my arrival within two hours.

Well, it’s been three months since I got “the call” from Mayo Clinic saying they had a liver waiting for me! It was pretty emotional for me and my family because there were so many times that we did not know if I would ever have the transplant or be healthy enough to endure the wait. What made it even more divine was the fact that the day they called me was also my birthday. I could not have been given a more perfect gift.

I want to thank you for being an intricate part of my transplant. Angel Flight is all that your name implies and far more. From the pilot who unselfishly donated his time, to the people who took the call to set everything up, this would not have succeeded if it weren’t for their generosity and kindness. Thank you for taking time for another and giving me a second chance at life. May God richly bless Angel Flight…a place in Heaven is reserved just for you!

Gratefully,

Larry B. and Family

Janelle learned about a specialist at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, Dr. Putnam, but needed a way to get herself and Chloe there. Angel Flight arranged a round trip from their home in Chesterfield, Virginia, to Cincinnati. “We were treated like VIPs!” Janelle said. “Chloe enjoyed the flights and felt like they were an adventure.”

At the hospital, Dr. Putnam was able to identify four foods that Chloe could safely eat. “Before going to Cincinnati, Chloe was sick all the time and had developed a severe aversion to eating any kind of food,” Janelle said. “She is regaining her desire to eat, and is now a happy four-year-old girl who is rarely sick.”

Chloe will have to travel back to Cincinnati several times every year for ongoing care. She and her mom can count on Angel Flight to help them.

Such was the case with Emily, a 14-year-old girl from Ellicott City, Md., whose parents were told she had cerebral palsy. Emily, who exhibited symptoms at birth, is fully dependent and unable to walk, eat, or talk.

“Her disorder is in the muscular dystrophy family,” says her mother, Kathy.

Kathy is a former pediatrician who stays home to care for Emily and two other children who also have the illness but with milder symptoms. Kathy herself has mitochondrial disease and says her symptoms include muscle twitches, GI problems, a weakened immune system and allergies.

John, 7, has autism and Crohn’s disease. Kelly, 17, has severe ADHD. Both suffer from muscular problems due to low muscle tone and weakness.

Through advanced research, scientists have learned more about abnormalities in the molecular powerhouse known as the mitochondria, which converts glucose and oxygen into energy.

But due to an inherited condition, the mitochondria can fail, causing cells to lose energy and become damaged and even die.

Last summer Emily was able to take two Angel Flights —first to be evaluated and diagnosed, and then to undergo surgery.

“She seemed to enjoy the flight,” Kathy notes. “The pilots couldn’t have been more wonderful. There was no other way we could have gotten down there.”

Emily suffers from severe scoliosis and, following diagnostic tests, was deemed to be a good candidate for the spinal fusion surgery.

The complex seven-hour surgery required inserting rods and screws in her back.

“She was in the hospital for a week,” her mom says. “She is still on bed rest. It’s a long recovery.”

About three hours short of Branson on the second day, the bus pulled into a rest stop.

Suddenly, as he was coming down the steps, Jack, who is in his late seventies, began to stumble, drawing the attention of a nurse on board, June Edwards, who determined Jack had suffered a light stroke.

Once in Branson, he was taken to the hospital. Fortunately, physicians determined the stroke had caused no damage. But the question that loomed was, how would Jack get home once he was discharged? Riding on the bus was not an option.

“We tried flights out of Springfield, but he would have to make connections, and the tickets were cost-prohibitive,” Rev. Phillips noted.

It happened that June’s son-in-law, Ron Gibson, is an Angel Flight® pilot. She and her husband Herb, also on the trip, contacted Ron, who agreed to fly Jack home.

Though the group had to leave on Thursday to go home, Jack and Katherine were able to extend their stay at the hotel for another day until Ron’s arrival.

He flew them in his Cessna 182, stopping in Nashville where they rendezvoused with the church group whose bus had also stopped over in Nashville, then resumed the trip home.

“It was providential, the way it all worked together,” said Phillips.

A highlight of the flight for Jack, who was himself a pilot and had even built a passenger plane, was having an opportunity to sit in the co-pilot’s seat, making the trip “even more miraculous.

“You’ll never know how thrilled he and Katherine were to get to fly with Angel Flight,” Phillips said. “To get back in a plane was the fulfillment of a dream.”

Like other boys his age, the seventh grader from Johnson City enjoys playing sports. His favorites are soccer, basketball and baseball. He’s also an avid reader. But unlike others, Garrett takes part in a clinical drug trial that produces discomforting flu-like symptoms. He is under the care of Dr. William Balistreri, one of the world’s most foremost authorities on pediatric gastroenterology and liver disease.

As one of some 112 child participants nationwide, Garrett is treated with the drug pegylated interferon along with ribavirin, a regimen currently FDA-approved for adults. He must also travel to see Dr. Balistreri in Cincinnati once a month.

To get to Dr. Balistreri, though, means a long journey from the Volunteer State to the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center in Ohio.

At one time, Garrett and his father Tom, a retired Army Veteran who served in both Desert Shield and Desert Storm, made the journey as often as once a week for one month, and then traveled there every three weeks.

To drive or fly that distance so often would be time-consuming and expensive, so Garrett and his father are thankful that Angel Flight® provided the frequent lifts needed to transport them to Cincinnati. Tom said his son was “apprehensive at first” about flying, but that Garrett “is getting used to it,” and that the pilots have been helpful and friendly.

André Hawkins is the Clinical Research Coordinator in the Division of Gastroenterology, Hepatology and Nutrition at the hospital, and he realizes what a huge role Angel Flight plays in Garrett’s treatment. Garrett and other children enrolled in clinical studies “wouldn’t be able to participate otherwise,” notes André.

Angel Flight gets Garrett where he needs to be—and back home again.

View the full version of the documentary here

Order the DVD of this powerful new documentary, filmed as a gift to us by Cross and Flag Productions — yours for a $25 donation (includes shipping and handling).

Pay using credit card by clicking “Buy Now” button below

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Mercy Medical Airlift (designate “Film”):

4620 Haygood Road, Suite 1, Virginia Beach VA 23455.

Questions? Call Suzanne Rhodes at 757-271-2299

Richard and Kyle Petty care about the race, as you will see in our public service announcement. NASCAR and the human race inspired the Pettys to create Victory Junction Gang Camp for special needs children, and Angel Flight pilots make sure they get there for the fun.

Pictured in the photo above (back row, left to right) are Ron Calugar, Doug Robinson, Kenny Hardin, Dan Dedona, John Pilkins, and Jan Greenberg, Dale Shymkewich. Middle row: Chris Noonan, Jim Loncella, John Sullivan, Samuel Pais, Cleve Benedict. Front row: Tony Schmidt, Charlie Poll, Dave Pride.

For outstanding service in their respective states in 2008, the following were named Pilots of the Year: Cleve Benedict (WV), Dale Shymkewich (VA), Doug Robinson (MD), Charlie Poll (OH), Dan Dedona (PA), Dick Lawrence (MI), Brett Lunger (DE), Tony Schmidt (KY), Huston Simmons (DC), Kenny Hardin (NC), and Dave Pride (TN). Pride was also named Pilot of the Year for the Mid-Atlantic region. Congratulations to all of our volunteer pilots—both named and unnamed—for their selfless service in helping patients to find “the shortest distance between home and hope.”