Delivering Health & Hope, One Flight at a Time.
Sometimes the road to health is a runway. On any given day, there are more than a dozen Angel Flight West volunteer pilots in the sky, flying patients to or from treatment — for free. Nearly one-third of those passengers are battling cancer. And every time one of our pilots goes wheels up, a life is changed.
Meet Connie.
In October 2017 Connie got the worst news of her life. She had breast cancer and would need a double mastectomy to survive. She lives in Thompson Falls, a remote part of Montana, and knew that in order to get the best care possible, she’d need to find her way to Seattle Cancer Care Alliance at Evergreen Health. Living on social security income and with a diabetic husband, she couldn’t afford the travel expenses and worried about the hardship the long drive would cause them.
One day during her chemotherapy session, her favorite infusion nurse told her about Angel Flight West. After a few phone calls and a brief application, Connie was in the air with a Montana pilot, on her way to treatment. She’s since flown 13 missions with AFW pilots. On one occasion, when the pilot had to cancel their flight because of weather, he picked her up in his car and drove her two hours to the Missoula airport, where she caught a commercial flight using a ticket donated by AFW partner Alaska Airlines.
“The Angel Flight pilots were all wonderful,” Connie says. “They were helpful and made me feel secure and safe. Having cancer is conducive to a lot of stress, and the pilots helped lighten things up for me. And they didn’t treat me like I was a sicky. It was a huge comfort to know that I could be home with my husband in just two hours.”
Recently, Connie was given a clean bill of health with a 97.5% chance she’ll remain cancer free. She’ll go back to Seattle soon for reconstructive surgery, but is thrilled to have more time with her three children, seven grandchildren and one great grandchild.
“I will treasure every precious moment with my family,” she says. “I’m so grateful for my life.”
The Biden Cancer Summit was galvanizing. The stories we heard there — and those we hear every day from people like Connie — inspire us to do more, to fly higher. So we’re recruiting more pilots and reaching out to more patients. In the coming weeks, we’ll be exhibiting at CancerCon and the Susan B. Komen Oregon/SW Washington conference. We’re also connecting with patient support groups across the western states.
Angel Flight West is so proud to be a part of this #cancerFIERCE community. Our mission is to deliver hope and health, and this revolutionary movement convinces us hope is not an illusion and a cancer-free world is achievable.
There are still many people out there who could use our help. If you’re one of them, or if you know someone who is, please get in touch: www.angelflightwest.org.
