Alaska Airlines Frequent Fliers Donate Miles To Angel Flight West, Help Connect Patients With Far-Away Medical Care
Source: Alaska Airlines
Nov 17, 2007 - 6:08:50 AM
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Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan members have donated hundreds of thousands of
frequent-flier miles so far to Angel Flight West, a charitable organization that
provides air transportation to patients who must travel long distances to
receive medical care. Angel Flight West, which will celebrate its 25th
anniversary next year, is one of several charities that participates in Alaska
Airlines' Charity Miles program at alaskaair.com.
Among the many patients
who have benefited from Angel Flight West's services are sisters Lorrie Judy of
Alaska and Kim Bell of Idaho.
Sisters share a lot of things — shoes,
clothes, secrets. But a vital body organ? When Judy learned her sister, Bell,
needed a kidney, there was no question she would donate one of her own.
Bell has polycystic kidney disease and the dialysis treatment that
tethered her to a machine for hours each day had begun to fail. Tests proved
that younger sister, Judy, was the perfect donor.
But their usual mode of
communication — talking on the phone — wouldn't cut it this time. Judy needed to
be at her sister's bedside — pronto. With limited means, buying a round-trip
ticket from her home in Soldotna was out of the question.
"I didn't know
how I was going to get there," Judy says.
That's when an angel stepped
in. Local private pilot Stuart Goering flies for Angel Flight West, a charitable
organization that matches patients in need with volunteer pilots who transport
them to medical treatment, free of charge.
Goering not only flew Judy
from Soldotna to Anchorage in his four-seat airplane, his family gave her a ride
to the international airport.
"His kids loaded my bags in their car and
off we went to the airport," Judy says. "The whole family was
involved."
Alaska Airlines took over, providing free travel for Judy from
Anchorage to Portland, where she was to have the operation to donate her kidney
at Oregon Health & Science University.
Unfortunately, Judy's sister
suffered a gall bladder attack the night before the surgery and the transplant
had to be delayed.
Four months later, Judy received the call that another
Angel Flight West pilot would pick her up. She again flew by private plane to
Anchorage and then on Alaska Airlines to Portland where, this time, the
operation took place.
Judy says that doctors reported her kidney started
working immediately after it was transplanted. Her sister's recovery was quick,
too.
"We were supposed to be in intensive care for two weeks, but after
four days we were both up and going," Judy says.
Judy and Bell were tight
as youngsters, growing up with four other brothers and sisters in Hailey, Idaho.
Now, they share something even more vital.
"I never once stopped to think
about donating it," Judy says. "I just did it — because I love her."
That was three years ago this week, and Judy says the experience remains
on the top of her mind.
"We couldn't have done it without the help we got
from Angel Flight West," she says. "In them, our prayers were
answered."
There are many others like Judy, according to Donna Hartman,
Alaska Airlines' manager of community relations and corporate giving. Alaska
provides free travel to about 700 passengers a year through the far-reaching but
low-key nonprofit group based in Santa Monica, Calif. Besides its relationships
with commercial airlines, Angel Flight West also works with private pilots
throughout 13 western states, who use their personal aircraft to provide no-cost
transportation to people who need it.
Most missions are for folks who
live in or are flying to rural areas, where travel by car would be too lengthy
or expensive. Others are for medical reasons. A patient may be too sick to fly
on a commercial flight, for example, says Cheri Cimmarrusti of Angel Flight
West.
The organization doesn't allow patients to call directly and
request help. Cimmarrusti says they must be referred by a doctor or other health
care professional. Once the request is accepted, the need is posted on the Angel
Flight West Web site and pilots in the area are contacted for their help.
Among the volunteer pilots is Alaska Airlines CEO Bill Ayer, who has
flown dozens of Angel Flight West missions and serves on the organization's
board of directors. He counts his angel flight missions among some of his most
memorable flights.
"I've had the privilege of seeing what this
organization does firsthand and it's truly humbling," said Ayer.
For
more information about Angel Flight West, visit
www.angelflightwest.org.
To donate Alaska Airlines Mileage Plan miles,
visit Alaska Airlines' Charity Miles program Web site at
www.alaskaair.com/mileageplan/ssl/Donate/DonateMiles.aspx.
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