Safely delivered to the front door (L to R): Jackie with “killer dog” Misse, Stanley, Mike and Karolee.

How much does hope weigh, how much is it worth?

Ask Karolee and her 15-year-old son, Stanley, and they will answer with tears. Stanley has epilepsy, and his mom stays home to care for him. He had a week of testing scheduled to begin on July 19 at the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, but Karolee’s car was undrivable and Stanley can’t fly on an airplane. How were they to get from their home in Charlestown, Indiana, to Cincinnati?

Angel Bus, Mercy Medical Airlift’s newest program, was created in 2000 to fill such a niche, and Stanley was its first mission following reinstatement in 2009. (After founder Bill Connor died in 2008, the service was discontinued, then turned over to MMA.)

Stanley and his mother traveled to the hospital in luxury, riding in a 40’ Mountain Aire motor coach owned by Mike and Jackie Miller. As an Angel Bus driver, this was Mike Miller’s first mission, too. While Stanley underwent tests to determine his eligibility for surgery to repair the section of his brain where his seizures occur, Karolee stayed in a Ronald McDonald House, and the Millers visited friends in Columbus, Ohio.

At the end of the week, the Millers drove their two passengers back home to Indiana.   

“This trip will always hold a special memory in our hearts,” Karolee wrote in a comment following the full story appearing at www.Angel-Bus.org. She said she cried when she read the article.

She hopes Stanley can qualify for the surgery, which she says has a good record of success at Cincinnati Children’s. That is our hope and prayer, too.

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