Mission 195 Mission 194 | View All Mission Reports | Mission 196 Departure: Arrival: Date: Mission Report
Grace on Wings completes 195TH stop: wthitv.com Dennis M is a 68 year old avid collector of anything with a motor. He is retired from US Air Force and owning a car dealership. He is a pilot and owns a Cessna and even a stunt plane. He was riding his Harley Motorcycle in Missouri and says he doesn’t know what happened but as he rounded a corner the bike accelerated and he lost control and slid into a guard rail. Thank goodness he had a helmet on! He had prior brain surgery for cancer 6 years ago and was considered a “cure”. He did suffer multiple leg, arm and spinal fractures but he never lost consciousness and no head injury. Now after the orthopedists mended together his hip, leg, hand and shoulder with plates, screws and fiber wire, he needed to do some mending of his own. His family is located in Terre Haute, and although he has many pilot friends, the doctors at University Hospital in Columbia wouldn’t let him travel except by air ambulance with full medical support. His pilot friends did tell him about Grace on Wings and we were off to Columbia Missouri again for the third time in three months. The doctor there recognized us and said “you’re getting to be regulars around here!” We packaged Dennis up and after praying over him, loaded him onto Nellie-our aircraft. As nurse JoLynne and I went through our normal routine, I asked him if he ever got “airsick.” He just looked at me and laughed and then I felt silly as I remembered he was a stunt pilot 🙂 We had a great short flight back to Terre Haute Indiana and he even commented on Hal’s smooth landing. We are so grateful to be able to serve this family (especially because they are aviation enthusiasts!) I told him it was the first time I’ve ever told a patient that they owed me-owed me a flight on his stunt aircraft when his body healed! He said he’ll definitely deliver on that one. We pray for his faith to be strengthened and God will show him continued love and care back home again in Indiana. Thanks for the awesome Terre Haute Fire Dept for donating the ground ambulance and for our wonderful Medical Director Jim Milstead who has served the people of Terre Haute through working in the ER for over 30 years. Thanks also to Mike and Hal for great flying and for great care by my wonderful sisters in Christ JoLynne and Morgan. Tam |