Angel Flight Story

Alabama Nurse, Sep-Nov 2005 by Harris, Rebecca

What would you do if you had a family member who needed transportation to participate in a new life saving medical treatment or a special clinical trial at a distant hospital? If your child needed repetitive specialized treatments at a medical facility far from home? If a loved one needed to have a pilot on standby to immediately fly them to a distant hospital for an organ transplant on a moments notice? What if the financial resources did not exist to provide for these important transportation needs? What would you do? You would call Angel Flight Southeast.

Such was the case with Baby Foster, from Birmingham, Alabama. Foster was bom with bilateral clubfoot, which means that both of his feet were turned completely the wrong way. With severe clubfoot, the soft tissues are all shortened and bones are deformed. Without correction, Foster would be unable to walk and crippled for life. However, using the Ponseti Method doctors are able to move the feet into a normal position using a series of corrective casts, then braces. Foster's parents took him to Iowa to see the famous Dr Ponseti himself. Foster got his first casts on when he was just 10 days old. Before they knew of Angel Flight, Foster and his mother, Kim, flew commercially to Iowa and back 6 times. The casts were changed as often as every 3 to 5 days. Even though each appointment was only an hour or so, they had to stay over a number of days to meet the airline restrictions. Foster's Dad had taken off as much time as he could from his job to care for Fosters 3 other siblings. The treatment went beyond what the family had expected. They never knew whether they would stay for another cast or whether they would leave until they took the latest cast off. Then Kim saw an Angel Flight brochure in the Ronald McDonald house where they stayed. Using Angel Flight the family was able to come and go to Iowa on the same day. Kim credits Angel Flight with taking the burden off their entire family in many ways, well beyond the financial relief. The 3 other young children were able to see their mother again after 2 months of hardly seeing her at all. Kim was able to travel on her husband's day off and did not have to rent a car and or pay for a hotel. Kim said, " I came back with my sanity intact for the first time in months. Angel Flight meant sanity for our family." Kim evaluated her Angel Flight experience in this statement: "The staff who coordinate the flights, and the pilots (and often their employers as well) who give of their time, equipment, and money are truly remarkable, Their interest in helping others is genuine and their attitudes are all so positive. It encourages those of us who have benefited from their compassion and generosity to look for ways that we can also use our resources to help others. Angel Flight is aptly named!" Angel Flight is a non profit organization utilizing volunteer pilots and their small aircraft to provide FREE air transportation for financially stressed persons with medical or other compelling human needs. The toll free phone number is 1-800-352-4256.

Rebecca Harris is the Birmingham Representative for Angel Flight Southeastern