DETROIT, MI – With a diagnosis
of chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML), a rare type of cancer affecting
the bone marrow, only a stem cell transplant could save the life
of 15-year-old Aisha Day. It would require her to travel on very
short notice and spend months at a time in a hospital hundreds of
miles away from her Detroit home. It would also require Aisha’s
parents to make countless arrangements and find a way to pay for
it all.
“We were desperate,” says Linda Day, Aisha’s mother.
“Since we couldn’t book flights in advance, we were
looking at spending thousands of dollars each trip. We’re
a family of five and the exorbitant cost of Aisha’s medical
condition would make it almost impossible for us to pay for her
airfare too. On top of that, the expense of our travel back and
forth with our daughter would be prohibitive. We really were at
our wits end.”
Then, from another leukemia patient, the family heard about Corporate
Angel Network, a national not-for-profit organization that arranges
free air transportation for thousands of cancer patients and their
caregivers, using the empty seats aboard corporate jets flying on
routine business. In its twenty years of operation, the White Plains,
New York-based agency has arranged nearly 14,000 flights.
Within hours, Corporate Angel Network’s volunteer schedulers
arranged seats for Aisha and her mother on a New York-bound corporate
flight. They joined business travelers on a comfortable passenger
jet owned by a participating ”Corporate Angel,” avoiding
the high cost of last-minute commercial airline travel, and were
able to board and disembark quickly and easily without the typical
stress of airline travel.
“Corporate Angel Network turned our transportation problems
around. They not only rendered a critically needed service but also
did so with sensitivity, compassion and concern. I just called and
told them where we are and where we needed to go and within what
time frame,” says Day. They did all the rest.”
Corporate Angel Network kept the Days informed of flight availability
and found them flights. With Aisha’s immune system suppressed,
an additional and major benefit was avoiding possible exposure to
airborne illnesses on packed commercial flights and air terminals.
Any cancer patient or bone marrow donor or any age needing to travel
to or from a recognized medical facility for treatment, consultation
or check-up is encouraged to call Corporate Angel Network. Financial
need is not a consideration and there is no limit to the number
of flights requested. Patients must be able to climb the stairs
of a private jet without assistance and require no life support
or medical assistance on board. One adult caregiver or two parents
may accompany the patient.
FOR MORE INFORMATION CONTACT:
Jeanne Shanin
Phone: (914) 328-1313
jshanin@corpangelnetwork.org
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