Children's Hospital patients take flight
Published Oct. 21, 2003
As 12-year-old Steve Nowlin skipped to a single-engine plane with his uncle and father, his mother, Pam Carey, clasped her hands together and whispered how scared she was.
"Oh, gosh, there they go!"
Carey, who said she was so terrified of flying she refused free plane tickets to Disneyland for her family and instead chose to drive, watched her son approach the runway in a white and maroon plane.
In 1999, her son was diagnosed with leukemia. After 2 1/2 years of chemotherapy treatments, he is in remission.
On Saturday, Children's Hospital, which is part of MU Health Care, and the Experimental Aviation Association held the Young Eagles event for patients of the hospital and their families.
Young Eagles is a national event that grants children the opportunity to receive free flights from volunteer pilots, said Dave Martin, EAA chapter 429 vice president.
"Most of the children are the chronic patients," said Meredith Lehman, the child life coordinator at Children's Hospital. "We called families who we know well.
"Many of the families are separated because of the hospitalizations. This allows families to spend time together and for families to meet up. It's like a mini-support group."
Carey said events such as Young Eagles help distract her son from his illness.
"Sometimes we feel lucky because he's gotten all these great opportunities," she said. "We talk about how he's been to Disneyland with Make-A-Wish and to basketball games. His cousins are jealous."
Shortly after 10 a.m., 11-year-old Nick Gibson walked into Hangar 120 holding his parents' hands. After signing a thank-you banner for the pilots with an orange marker, his name was called.
He spoke to the pilot for a few minutes and then climbed into the white and green plane with his father, Brent. At 10:24 a.m., Nick's plane took off as his mother watched with other parents and families in the hangar. After landing at 10:42 a.m., Nick stepped out of the plane holding his dad's hand.
"I wanted to do this because I probably won't get to ride in planes much in my life," Nick said. "That was my first time in the front seat of a plane."
Like Steve, Nick also had leukemia. In December, he will have been in remission for five years, his mother said.
"I really liked flying over the cornfields," he said. "We also flew over my house. We went right over the street."
During Steve's 15-minute flight, Carey said she worried her son Steve had either passed out or vomited out of fear. Once he landed at 11:30 and jumped out of the plane yelling, "That was awesome!" she knew he was fine.
"It's unbelievable that people will do this for the kids," she said. "You never know when you're going to get a call for an event. They're all the time.
"It's so beneficial for everyone. We're so grateful."