"Angel" in the Sky Offers Free Flights for Chronically Ill Children
While some heroes wear capes, others run businesses and fly planes.
The heroes at AeroAngel provide free flights for chronically ill children so they can safely travel to receive lifesaving treatment without bankrupting their parents.
USA Today reports on two year old Jack Hogan from Virginia. Jack has a variety of medical conditions that make flying commercial travel “stressful and hazardous.” But the treatment he requires is 700 miles from his home at Boston Children’s Hospital.
“A lot of our families are coming to us through referrals. Whether that’s other families or sometimes social workers in the hospitals,” said Brittany Baillargeon, AeroAngel’s Special Projects Director.
“They’re just directed to our website, aeroangel.org, and they fill out a flight request form and then upload a letter of medical necessity. It’s free to all families. All of our costs are covered through donors.”
The service isn’t an air ambulance but offers free transportation nationwide. Last year, they made about 70 flights. All the pilots are volunteer professional pilots and all the flight costs are covered by private donations from the company’s bank of donors.
Jack’s father, Mark, talked to USA Today about how valuable the organization is to his family.
“Aero Angels is an absolute lifesaver for us. We attribute so much of Jack’s progress to their generosity and the incredible mission that they support families like us that need to go to these specialized centers like Boston Children’s. [We] really would not have any option at all because insurance doesn’t cover this kind of transportation for our son. So, it’s been absolutely critical to his well-being.”
Humankind created a video about the service, posted to their Facebook Watch page.
AeroAngel is a one-of-a-kind organization. They describe themselves on their website this way:
“AeroAngel is a unique aviation charity that provides free transportation, primarily to children, traveling to distant, life-saving medical care. There is no other organization in the country providing dedicated flights to children’s hospitals for medically fragile children who cannot safely fly on a commercial airline flight or drive, but who do not need an air ambulance.”
Every time a medically fragile child receives necessary treatment and their families can travel without cost, fear, or stress, these angels definitely earn their wings!
