Dianna Stanger (pilot) Martha Navarez, Irene Tores, Andres Tores and Victoria Holt (pilot) at El Paso International Airport.
Our county airport manager, Dianna Stanger, along with her co-pilot, Victoria Holt, volunteer as pilots for a non-profit organization named Grace Flights. Dianna has flown as many as 20 flights per year and asked if I would accompany them on June 8th on a Grace Flight to take video, photos and for the experience.
So there I was traveling in a Hawkeer Beechcraft Jet… ETA; 112 miles to Houston (HOW) from Calhoun County Airport (PKV) at a velocity of 225 miles due at Hobby Airport in 19 minutes to pick up three Grace Flight passengers. From Hobby we were scheduled to fly one hour and 26 minutes to El Paso where the patients live. Shortly after pre-flighting we were up, up and away!
I was captivated! There I sat snapping photo after photo when suddenly I realized we were halfway to Houston! I looked up and we were currently traveling at a ground speed of 473 miles and flying at an altitude of 10,650 feet! (And yes, I do think all three of those sentences deserved exclamation marks!) I felt as if I could almost touch the sun. It was absolutely beautiful; the clouds were like cotton candy and the sun shone on them as if there was nothing wrong in the world today.
I had yet to meet our patients, however I was already emotional. Several minutes later, we were in Houston. As we descended, my excitement grew even more, I could not wait for what the rest of the day had in store.
We taxied onto the Hobby Airport runway to pick up three passengers: Martha Navarez, Irene Tores and Andres Tores. I quickly learned El Paso to MD Anderson was about a 12 hour drive for them, with a cost of over $500 in travel expenses. Today’s flight was only one hour and 26 minutes… Irene was a sweet, young girl with cancer traveling with her dad, Andres. They visit Irene’s doctor at MD Anderson every two weeks for chemotherapy treatment. I could tell she was a bit sad so I started talking to her about the terrain, for instance how the rivers remind me of snakes and how everything is in a grid. The river analogy got a good giggle out of her. Many children her age do not have the privilege of flying in a jet, but how ironic is the manner in which it came about for this young lady. In speaking with her, I learned that mostly pilots with single-engine planes, similar to our local airport’s Cessna 172 Skyhawk, participate in the Grace Flights program.
Martha has been fighting cancer for over a year now and suffered for many years before she was diagnosed. In fact, she was scheduled for a hysterectomy when they realized she had a tumor in her colon. She has been through two chemo treatments and was scheduled on June 16th to have surgery to remove the tumor at MD Anderson. Her surgery will take 15 hours and she must remain in Houston for two weeks. She smiled and said, “I’m lucky, most of my flights have been in jets.” I responded, “There is nothing like flying in style!”
It’s amazing how easily you can bond with people who you just met mere minutes ago… at an altitude of 39,500 feet. It also amazes me that there are pilots out there who do so much for these patients. Not only are they paying an immense amount of money for medical treatment, doctor’s visits, medication, but they must also endure hours upon hours of travel. Imagine feeling as if you are about to die and knowing that you have a 12-hour drive ahead. Martha explained to me how important it was for her to seek treatment at MD Anderson, “I wanted a doctor that specialized in the particular type of cancer I was diagnosed with,” she said. “At the hospitals that are near me, they rush from one person to another. I’m just a number.” I nodded my head; that made perfect sense.
The flight ended quickly and looking back I hope that Martha is safely recovering from surgery and that Irene is not as sad as when I met her. As we descended and approached El Paso International Airport I saw something that I will always remember. There overlooking the Rio Grande, on one of the Franklin Mountains which are the northern ramparts of the Paso del Norte (Pass of the North), leading from Mexico into what is now the United States, a message was written. I kept trying to make out the words, but we were still very far away so I asked Andres what it said. He smiled and quickly responded in Spanish, “La Biblia es la verdad… LEELA!” The English translation is “The Bible is the truth… READ IT!” My thoughts immediately turned to my grandmother who suffered from breast cancer when I was three years old. To this day she tells me to find strength by reading the Bible.
This truly was a Grace Flight! Even now as I type this last paragraph, my eyes swell with tears. I’m extremely fortunate to have met such humble people and experienced yet another sign of “The Power of Prayer.” I will never forget those big, bold letters. Until next time, blue skies!
To learn more about Grace Flights go to www.graceflights.com
Written in bold letters in Spanish, “La Biblia es la verdad… LEELA!” which translates to “The Bible is the truth… READ IT!” Watch the video online at www.theracingaces.com
