Thursday, May 24, 2007

Wings of Hope - Medical Flight for Kids in Need


In 1985 Ann McGee founded Miracle Flights for Kids out of her one bedroom apartment in Las Vegas, Nevada. As a teacher of children with diablities, she was exposed to families struggling with illness, some without the money or resources to seek second opinions or expert care for their children. This problem was especially accute for children that could benefit from or be saved by treatments available in other states. Transportation became the biggest obstacle to curing their children.

Mrs. McGee recognized the need for the coordination of aviation services that could provide no cost transportation for blood, donor organs, and patients to medical facilities around the country. Out of this need, Miracle Flights for Kids was born to provide families with free flights to hospitals and treatment centers they could otherwise not obtain because of financial hardship.

Through her hard work and dedication she grew the program from only a handful of flights for local kids to a nation-wide effort that flies boys and girls from all corners of the country. To-date, her program has coordinated more than 46,000 flights and provided over 23 million miles of free access to healthcare for America’s families.

Miracle Flights for Kids lists on their website children they have helped over the years. It's heartwarming to read about these little miracles. Alex, 10, was flown from Montana to Seattle Children's Hopsital for life saving treatment of a blood clot in his portal vein. Little Gabby went from Iowa to Boston to have large csyts caused by Cystic Lymphangioma removed from her jawline.

Miracle Flights for Kids flies families from and to anywhere in the USA using seats donated by commercial airlines, private pilots in small airplanes, and sometimes by purchasing commerical seats with donated funds. These donations come from individuals as well as corporate sponsors including the MGM Mirage Voice Foundation and The Christopher Reeve Foundation.

If you know someone in need of this service go to www.miracleflights.org. There are also other organizations around the country that provide a similar service. Here is a short list to get started on a search for help.

Mercy Medical Airlift - www.mercymedical.org

Angel Flight NE - www.angelflightne.org

Angel Flight Central - www.angelflightcentral.org

Angel Flight SE - www.angelflightse.org


2 comments:

Anonymous said...

My thanks to "Wings of Hope" for flying my terminally Ill Daughter from St.Louis to Dallas to be with her family to care for her in her own home with Mom and Dad. I don't have words to express my graditude.
I will never forget this act of kindness shown to us in this time of need.
All our prayers and good wishes to your organization.
J&M Edwards
Dallas, Texas

Lisa McGlaun said...

J and M,

Thanks for letting me know how you benefited from this service. It's good to know that Wings of Hope is doing important work.

Peace,
Lisa