- Air Compassion for Veterans board member John Hoffmann and his wife, Lois, took a shine to Alex Searles at Halos and Heroes–a shine brighter than that of the red WWI biplane in the background.
One of the rewards of working for a nonprofit charity is being on the receiving end as we are at Mercy Medical Airlift, even though we are the service providers.
Let me explain by telling you about a recent event.
On October 6, Mercy Medical Airlift and partner charities Air Compassion for Veterans and Angel Flight held a donor appreciation dinner at one of the coolest places in Hampton Roads–the privately-owned Virginia Beach Airport and Military Aviation Museum. We called it Halos and Heroes as we have called it for years, but in the past, the event was a fundraiser.
This year, we wanted to thank our major donors by giving them a dinner (compliments of Outback Steakhouse) and an evening to remember (sponsored by TowneBank). The cool, blue late afternoon sky was the perfect setting for an air demonstration featuring a World War II P-51 Mustang. Afterwards, we gathered in the hangar for the posting of the colors and an unforgettable rendition of the National Anthem sung a capella by Tuskegee Airman Ezra Hill. The catered steak dinner tasted every bit as delicious as the aroma of grilling meat had smelled as Outback prepared the food on site.
But the heart of the evening was what came next: emotional testimonials from three different patient-clients.
Bill Searles was there with his grandson and adoptive son, Alex, age 7. Alex is a miracle child and our very first Air Compassion for Veterans patient. In 2006, when he was only 2 1/2, Alex was fighting for his life in a Texas hospital. The doctors said he was in a vegetative state and would remain so if he survived. His mother and her Internet boyfriend were in jail for nearly beating the little boy to death while his father, a Marine sergeant, was deployed in Iraq.
Bill and his wife Sherry flew to Texas from Florida and went into ICU where they laid hands on their grandson and prayed a simple prayer. He began to tremble. Brain activity increased. From that moment on, his miraculous recovery began from horrific injuries, including traumatic brain injury, broken bones, and others.
After 10 days, Alex was stable enough to be transported to a Florida rehab facility near his grandparents’ home, and that is when Air Compassion for Veterans stepped in, providing an air ambulance flight. Alex is now in the first grade and continues to receive therapy each day. Bill says Alex is his hero. He is our hero too.
The next speaker was Bobby, father of three boys with a rare eye disorder– retinitis pigmentosa (RP)–that typically leads to blindness. Ryan, Justin and Jordan are from Chesapeake, Virginia, and travel by Angel Flight every two years to be treated by the leading RP specialist, Dr. Elliott Berson, at Harvard Medical Center. Ryan, 22, is a student at Liberty University. We were especially moved to learn that he feels the Lord is calling him to become a youth minister.
This will take extraordinary courage and faith since Ryan has the most severe case of the disorder, and shepherding teenagers under his charge will certainly be a challenge. Justin, 20, has a full-time job, and Jordan, 16, is a high school student. Theirs is a special family, and it was obvious to me, sitting at their table, that they share remarkable bonds of love and faith.
The last speaker was Spc. Tim Hall, 22, a wounded soldier we’ve previously featured on this blog (see May 27, 2011) and for whom we’ve provided several flights through Air Compassion for Veterans.
Tim and his father, Russ, came from Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda where Tim is continuing his rehabiliation following the amputation of both his legs and his right hip. He and Russ took the stage, where Tim told the story of how a mortar blast in Afghanistan propelled him 20 feet and nearly cost him his life, due to extreme loss of blood from his injuries.
“I fought and I fought,” he said, his voice quaking. “My mother usually tells this.” Having his parents by his side in Germany, where he was initially hospitalized, and then at Walter Reed where he regained consciousness for the first time since the explosion helped him to hold on.
Tim is best known for his infectious smile and upbeat attitude.
At first doctors told him he would be in a wheelchair for all his life. But cutting-edge technology now means he will be able to walk with specially-designed prosthetic legs. After another year of rehabilitation, Hall plans to return to his hometown of Hawthorne, NV, to work at the army depot and roam the canyons and plateaus with his friends in his custom-built four-wheeler.
The evening ended with a smash performance by the talented vocalist group 4-Troops (www.4troopsmusic.com) that included such favorites as “Proud To Be an American” and “You Raise Me Up.”
One of our guests wrote afterward to say, “How I wish the evening could have lasted longer!…I want you to know, on a personal level, that I left here a better person than when I came. Hearing of struggles, faith in action, and the extraordinary stewardship has been such an inspiration.”
Out of all this fullness we are glad to be able to continue serving the patients and veterans who call for help every day.
“It was hard not to stare” at the disfigured man who hid behind a mask and shopped at night. “Now, they have another reason to stare,” and the reason is an amazing one, according to the surgeon who spoke those words and who, with his medical team, gave Richard Norris a new face that is marvelous to see.
The trip to Disney World this week was far from typical. For one thing, the family of six traveled in two private planes. For another, the vacation was provided as a gift. And finally, it is likely that this is the last time the family as a whole will share happy moments together. That is because the mother and her daughter have terminal cancer. The flights to Orlando were Angel Flights. The vacation was donated by a nonprofit group, the Bucket List Dream Foundation.
