James has fun in a leaf pile despite his medical problems.

The Internet is a powerful tool for patients and families seeking information about rare disorders, among all the other things found on the super highway. Through an Internet support group, Ashly and Ronnie discovered Dr. Frank Hanley, the renowned pediatric cardiologist who could help their eight-month old son.

Baby James had turned blue right after he was born. At the University of Maryland Medical Center, testing showed he was suffering from a rare condition known as tetralogy of fallot. James was born with almost no pulmonary artery. He underwent surgery, with the surgeon installing a conduit for the missing artery.

 “The doctors thought it was successful,” Ashly said. “It worked for about three months. But then they noticed that the heart wasn’t doing as well.” Read more…

When Shirley H. was diagnosed with breast cancer this past December, she and her husband, Duane, were devastated. The couple lives in Black, Alabama, near Dothan. Duane’s father has been battling cancer for 10 years, and Shirley’s mother also has the disease, but in her case, none of the different treatment regimens prescribed have succeeded in “getting the cancer under control,” Duane said.

The Cancer Center in Arlington, Texas, was recommended for its high success rate in sending cancer into remission, and Shirley insisted that “she had to go to Texas. She was not willing to play games with this cancer and her life.” Read more…

By: Tim Homa

“I have outlived my prognosis of six months by seven and a half years because I am able to travel through your service,” said Alice.

Alice, 55, uses Mercy Medical Airlift to fly from her home in Ohio to Arkansas, where she receives treatment at the Winthrop Rockefeller Cancer Center. In 2002, after a series of physical problems and the task of caring for her mother who had suffered three strokes, she was diagnosed with nonsecretory multiple myeloma. This is a rare variation of multiple myeloma, a cancer of the plasma cells in bone marrow. With nonsecretory multiple myeloma, the body fails to secrete a protein, and the bone marrow looks normal, allowing the myeloma to travel through the bones undetected.
Read more…

A rare disease can dim the human spark but in the case of three Chesapeake, Virginia brothers suffering from RP, or retinitis pigmentosa, the smiles are radiant. Ryan, 20, Justin, 18, and Jordan, 14, take Angel Flights every two years to Harvard Medical Center to be treated for a genetic eye disorder that gradually leads to loss of vision. The boys receive experimental treatment from the nation’s leading RP specialist, Dr. Elliott Berson.

Read more…

Chana’s fifth birthday this year was more than cake and presents. On August 28, she was flown from San Diego back to her home in Monsey, New York, 40 miles north of New York City. The trip, provided through Mercy Medical Airlift’s charitable ticket program, enabled Chana to see a world-renown osteopathologist and a specialist in vision development. Chana, who has Down’s Syndrome, suffers from complications in vision coordination.

The bubbly little girl is in very good health compared to other children with Down’s Syndrome. However, her optical complications require special attention. Doctors have recommended surgeries and glasses, but an osteopathologist in San Diego treated Chana a little differently.

Read more…

Mercy Medical Airlift is 25 years old, cause for celebrating the tens of thousands of patients who have benefited from charitable medical flights throughout the years. To recognize the many dedicated individuals who have contributed to the growth and development of our charitable services, MMA hosted a banquet on May 9 in Gainesville, Virginia, at the beautiful Heritage Hunt clubhouse and featured highlights from the new documentary, Mercy Medical Airlift: Compassion Takes Flight.

Read more…

Ashley and Amber were among the first children enrolled in a clinical trial to treat Congenital Lactic Acidosis, or CLA. The condition leads to the abnormal buildup of lactic acid in the blood and spinal fluid. Without specialized treatment, CLA victims usually die as teenagers.

Dr. Peter W. Stacpoole directs the study, which utilizes the drug Dichloroacetate (DCA) to help reduce acidity and which seems to improve neurologic function. The twin girls, now 15, started taking trips to the University of Florida Research Center in Gainesville when they were two years old. Through its Child Lift program, Mercy Medical Airlift has provided free air transportation for Ashley and Amber and most of the other 42 children participating in the trial since 1995.

Ashley and Amber live in Las Vegas, Nevada. Their mother, Gina, says that without the drug DCA and Mercy Medical Airlift, the twins wouldn’t be alive today. Though Ashley can’t walk or talk and both girls are in wheelchairs, they are mainstreamed ninth graders and “very happy”, according to their mom.

Since that first child lift, MMA has been contacted to provide charitable flights related to 120 studies throughout the United States.

Richard was diagnosed with a rare form of cancer – a condition really not that uncommon particularly for older patients. The only place where the special bone-marrow work could be done for Richard was at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Center in Seattle.

Richard is 72 years old and with his wife lives on Social Security and a really small pension. Multiple round-trips via the airlines to Seattle was out of the question. There simply were no funds to pay for tickets. The 10% senior citizen discount didn’t make much difference.

Resources obtained through the Mercy Medical Airlift Charitable Airline Ticket program provided funds to obtain airline tickets leaving from Philadelphia for the west coast. A volunteer pilot organization then arranged for a private aircraft transport from upper New York State to Philadelphia and return. Richard is doing well with his bone marrow transplant.