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Mission 214 Mission 213 | View All Mission Reports | Mission 215 Departure: Arrival: Date: Mission Report John D is 58 years old from the Cincinnati area. He was in Muncie, Indiana watching his nephew’s ball game when he suddenly had a severe headache and collapsed to the ground. He was still unconscious when medics arrived and they placed an airway and began to assist his breathing. At the ER it was found he had a large stroke. He had severe high blood pressure and had run out of some of his medication and it was felt this caused the blood vessel to burst in his brain. There was so much pressure on his brain that neurosurgeons emergently put a drain in his skull. He remained on a ventilator while his family drove the 5 hours to be near him. God allowed him to have a wonderful nurse, Tim Hall, in the ICU that is also a volunteer for Grace on Wings and he began reaching out to the family and social workers to tell them how we might be able to eventually get him closer to home. AmVets, who John was employed by, began raising money through “pancake breakfasts” and other fund raisers because his daughter had no money to help pay for the fuel to run the aircraft. John could not tolerate a long ground trip. His daughter was shocked after 2 months, AmVets called to tell her the money had been raised and she could finally get her dad closer to home. He had began to recover enough to be aware of his surroundings but he was still ventilator dependent and could barely move his arms and feet. We arrived and he was in the long term care part of the hospital. His prior ICU nurse Tim took 1/2 day off work to be able to volunteer for the flight. The ground ambulance was graciously donated by Heartland ambulance and we arrived safely at the Muncie airport in the rain. We prayed over him in the ambulance before loading him onto Nellie. In stormy skies, the pilots had to work hard to get us there safely. We were down to minimums on visibility before landing and we later arrived with John safely in a nursing facility near his home. Now he can get visits from his family and friends-love goes far when you’re basically trapped inside a broken body. Thanks for the awesome skills of respiratory therapist Chris and nurse/medic Tim, thanks again to Heartland Ambulance, and thanks for the flight following of Polly and many others to pray us safely through the storms with the expertise of pilots Hal and Mike. Tam
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