Mission 213
Mission 212 | View All Mission Reports | Mission 214
Departure:
Roanoke, Virginia
Arrival:
Paducah, Kentucky
Date:
Saturday October 20, 2012
Mission Report
The latest mission number 213 had the GOW crew flying down
to the Blue Ridge Mountains city of Roanoke, VA. This is where we picked up our sister in
Christ, Jeanine K.
Jeanine, and her former pilot husband Lloyd, had driven from
their home of Metropolis, IL to visit their daughter and her family just
outside the Washington D.C. area. After
a wonderful stay it was time to head back west. By both being octogenarians, frequent stops were necessary according to
Lloyd. After approximately 2 hours in
the car, the two decided to stop at a rest stop just east of Roanoke. Unfortunately, Jeanine slipped on the wet
tile floor in the bathroom and fell “straight down on my bottom.”
It was quite evident that Jeanine was in a great deal of
pain and continuing on home from that point was not going to be an option. Therefore, an ambulance was called and she
was transported to the Carilion
Roanoke Memorial Hospital for evaluation and treatment. Thankfully neither hip was broken as she
feared, but the same couldn’t be said for her pelvis. She suffered a fractured pelvis and bruised
coccyx, which is commonly called the “tail bone.”
While there are some surgical intervention treatments for serious
pelvic fractures, Jeannie’s break was determined that she would do better with
a non-invasive approach of pain meds and immobilization. After nearly a week in the hospital she was
to be released on the condition she wouldn’t travel by automobile for the 12
hour plus trip to Illinois.
Now, it seems as though if there is a common theme for all
the missions that I have had the privilege to be part of, it has to be “how can
we do this, and how are we going to afford this?” Each time I hear this, it reminds me of
Proverbs 3:5, Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not lean on your
own understanding. God does and will
provide!
Just so happened that Jeanine’s daughter is a social worker
for a healthcare facility near her home. She began to research the means to get her mother home. As usual, she checked out the for-profit
services and was “shocked” at the prohibitive costs. Ground ambulance was an option, but Jeanine
would still have to endure the same grueling trip over the road.
Through additional networking. Jeanine’s daughter came
across GOW.
This mission was not the usual bedside to bedside transfer
that we are known for. In order to save
the cost of ground transport, Jeanine’s granddaughter drove 4 hours from her
West Virginia home to bring her grandparents from the hospital to the Roanoke
Regional Airport.
Thanks to Hal and Mike, we arrived right on time and and
found Jeanine, her granddaughter and her husband waiting for us at the
FBO. While Tammy and I assessed Jeanine
for the trip home, Lloyd, the former pilot, had an instant affinity for Nellie
so he went out and chatted with the guys as they prepared her for the next leg of our journey.
We prayed over Jeanine, and loaded her and Lloyd in Nellie
and off we went.
With Jeanine settled on the cot in the rear, we placed Lloyd
up near the front so he could peer into the cockpit and “keep an eye on those
young pilot’s.” He did admit he’d never
flown anything as “complicated” as Nellie, but it sure would have been fun!.
In two short, extremely uneventful hours we landed at
Barkley Regional Airport in Paducah KY, which is just across the Ohio River
from Metropolis. Lloyd was a bit puzzled
why we were not landing in Metropolis since that is where he had flown out of
his entire aviation career. Hal
explained the runway at the Metropolis airport was 1000 ft short of the minimum
length to meet the FAA regulations.
Once we taxied to the FBO, we were met by Jeanine and
Lloyd’s son. He was permitted to pull
the car right up along side of Nellie and we carefully loaded Jeanine and her
belongings as well as Lloyd in the car and in their quest to get home, they
left before we had the chance to pray over again. We all know that God still had his watchful
eye on them as they departed.
After a quick “stand up” lunch, we were airborne once again.
Mission number 213 was now officially and successfully in the books, and Tammy
got to “pin” another new city on the Mission Map!
On a personal note, some of you that enjoy following Nellie
on Flight Aware were perhaps a bit confused why there was an additional stop at
the Lawrenceville-Vincennes International Airport Saturday. That was a huge favor for me. My second year seminarian son preached his
first “public” sermon on Sunday at St. Peter Lutheran Church in Vincennes. The
coolest thing was that is the same church he, and his twin brother, were
baptized in 24 years earlier! God is just utterly amazing to watch him at work!
Finally, unequivocally ALL the thanks and
praise for our God-given talents and abilities to keep this wonderful ministry
serving others in need go to our loving Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ.
In HIS name,
Alan Taber, R.N.
|