By Lauren Wanko
Correspondent
There’s a special group of pilots who open their aircraft doors and hearts to strangers, taking them on life-saving flights.
“People turn to us at the most difficult times of their life; when they’re running out of time, when they’re running out of money but mostly when they’re running out of hope,” said Larry Camerlin.
Camerlin, the founder of Angel Flight Northeast, calls the non-profit an answer to a prayer. Volunteer pilots fly children and adults to medical care, all free of charge. Camerlin, a former businessman with a pilot’s license, got the idea after learning about an Angel Flight in another part of the country. After discovering there wasn’t a service in the Northeast region he started one in 1996 with just four volunteer pilots. Since then, they’ve recruited nearly 1,000.
“What’s so amazing, at Angel Flight, whatever pilot he or she flies the flight, they pick up the entire cost of the flight out of their own pocket,” he said.
Pilots last year spent nearly $3 million to fly people they’ve never met. The private planes seat four to eight people. Patients must be medically stable to fly and have financial need. About 50 percent of their patients are children who suffer from life-threatening cancer, while others have devastating diseases or severe burns, like Marlton resident Mason.
“Mason is an extraordinary young boy. His parents are extraordinary people. He is 100 percent unconditional love. One of the times we were filming him, he said to me, ‘cameraman, can you see me here?’ His face is badly burned, he has no fingers and hands, and he wants to know if we can see him in this badly burned little body. He’s an amazing little boy,” said Camerlin.
All of the flight times are set around the patient’s hospital appointments and Earth Angels drive patients to the doctor when they’re on the ground. There’s no limit to the amount of flights someone can take. One cancer patient has flown 578 times and counting. Mason has about 95 percent third degree burns.
“We’ll be flying Mason probably well into his early 20s,” said Camerlin.
Angel Flight’s flown more than 65,000 children and adults over the years. The non-profit relies on individual donations, corporate sponsors and several airline partners, like Jet Blue, which also offers Angel Flight patients unlimited, free seats, according to Camerlin. Air Force Veteran Jim Cear’s lost track of the number of flights he’s taken.
“For many people they’ve never seen the world from 5,000 feet. They can see into people’s backyards, and they can see the beauty of the landscape, and for some of them it is their first time experiencing that and they forget about their illness for 30 minutes, or an hour or two hours,” Cear said.
In addition to flying kids and adults in need of medical care, Angel Flight Northeast also transports members of the military and their families. They respond to crisis situation nationwide, too. Pilots dedicated their time in the days after 9/11 and Hurricane Katrina.
“And we have a big organ transplant program in which we fly recipients in the middle of the night,” said Camerlin.
Camerlin, who is a Massachusetts native, has flown several hundred flights.
“When you fly a patient it is the most moving, but humbling experience I think of a lifetime,'” he said.
The next time you spot a plane taking off or landing, know that it could be getting patients the care they so desperately need.