Press Release – LAS VEGAS, Oct. 23, 2018 /PRNewswire/ — Miracle Flights, the nation’s leading medical flight charity, has reported a total of 604 free commercial flights provided to critically ill children in September, an 8.8 percent increase over August’s total of 555 flights and a 5.4 percent increase over September 2017’s total of 573 flights.
Since its founding in 1985, the Las Vegas–based national nonprofit organization has provided 120,608 flights to sick children across the country and around world in need of specialized medical care far from home. Last month alone, Miracle Flights coordinated commercial flights for patients from 24 U.S. states and four countries, including Azerbaijan, Chile, Germany and Peru.
According to Miracle Flights CEO Mark E. Brown, the majority of flight recipients are children with rare or complex medical conditions who require not one but several flights for ongoing treatment not available in their home communities.
“Often when a child has an exceptionally rare condition, there simply aren’t resources available to offset medical costs, and frequent travel to out-of-state medical facilities can be cost prohibitive for many families. Miracle Flights alleviates that financial burden to make distant care possible,” said Brown. “And because Miracle Flights is not diagnosis specific, we can open our doors to any sick child who needs to travel for specialized care.”
As an example, Brown cites 5-year-old Dominic from Michigan, who was born with a one in a million variation of Hirschsprung’s disease, a condition that affects the intestines. Miracle Flights has flown Dominic to Boston for treatment every other month since July 2014—a total of 30 flights to date.
“Dominic’s parents recently wrote to us that thanks to the expert care he’s been able to receive over these past few years, they can now worry about finding him the perfect Spiderman costume for Halloween instead of fighting for his life,” said Brown. “Stories like Dominic’s fuel our mission to help as many children as we can live a better quality of life.”
To learn more about how to help Dominic and other children receive the life-changing medical care they need, visit miracleflights.org.
About Miracle Flights
Miracle Flights is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that provides free medical air transportation to children and adults via commercial airlines throughout the United States. With over three decades of service to families in need, Miracle Flights has coordinated more than 120,000 flights and counting. For more information about Miracle Flights, to request flight assistance, or to make a donation, call 800-359-1711 or visit miracleflights.org. Like us on Facebook and follow us on Twitter.
Be a hero! Join the elite group of supporters who ensure that stories like this can continue to be shared! Visit heroes4good.org to become a hero now.
