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Mercy Medical Airlift News
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Mercy Medical Airlift Stories
Twins Depend on Airlifts for Life-Saving Treatment
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.
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| Ashley and Amber, shown here at age seven, owe their lives to the drug DCA and the charitable flights provided by Mercy Medical Airlift. (Courtesy of University of Florida General Clinical Research Center.) |
As director of the university research center, the distinguished Dr. Peter W. Stacpoole "has gained new insights into mitochondrial diseases" such as CLA. (Courtesy of UF General Clinical Research Center.) |
Cancer Patient Flown from Upper New York State to Seattle
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.
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