AeroAngel Helps 2-Year-Old California Girl Access Life-Saving Surgery Across the Country

On March 27, 2023, AeroAngel will provide 2-year-old Naomi and her parents a private jet flight from their home near Irvine, California, to Cincinnati Children’s Hospital in Ohio, where Naomi is scheduled for a surgery that could dramatically improve her quality of life. Naomi was born with an exceptionally rare condition called congenital bilateral vocal cord paralysis. Affecting just one in a million, this disorder disables her vocal cords and means she requires a trachestomy tube in order to breathe. The only way Naomi will ever be able to breathe on her own is with a complete airway reconstruction and rib graft, an intricate procedure very few surgeons perform on small children.

After Naomi’s parents were referred to Cincinnati Children’s, they needed to find a safe way for their daughter to travel. Her compromised immune system eliminated crowded commercial travel as an option — it would be too risky to expose her airway to bacteria or viruses. A private jet flight was the answer; however, the cost posed a significant challenge.

After Naomi’s parents contacted AeroAngel about her critical condition, its flight coordinator began work to fulfill the family’s flight request. “For medically fragile children like Naomi, a private jet flight is the safest option,” says Mark Pestal, AeroAngel founder and executive director. “AeroAngel’s unique mission is to offer access to lifesaving medical care for seriously ill children by removing the barrier of long-distance travel to a children’s hospital.”

Naomi’s flight is being made possible through AeroAngel’s corporate partnership with flyExclusive, a national, premier on-demand charter operator. www.flyexclusive.com AeroAngel is also working to coordinate a flight home for Naomi and her family in early April as well as an additional roundtrip flight to Cincinnati for a follow-up appointment in May.

About AeroAngel AeroAngel is a national aviation nonprofit that provides free private jet flights for critically ill children who require travel to distant, life-saving medical care. All flights are conducted on business jets flown by a crew of professional pilots. Founded in 2010, AeroAngel is working to expand its unique flight donation program through its Emergency Flight Fund to serve more of the over 250 children’s hospitals across the country.

For more information, photos or interview requests, please contact Mark Pestal at (303) 548-3426 or mark@aeroangel.org. Those interested in donating can do so online at www.aeroangel.org.

Houston girl receives AeroAngel’s first charity organ transplant flight to Pittsburgh

On December 18, 2022, AeroAngel provided Jailyn, 9, and her mother a free private jet flight from Houston, Texas, to Pittsburgh, Pennsylvannia, where she received a kidney transplant at Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh (CHP). Although she received two prior offers of a kidney, her family had to turn them down because they were unable to travel from Houston to Pittsburgh to receive the transplant within the 8-12-hour window of a kidney becoming available.

Out of options and with Jailyn’s health declining, social workers at CHP recently contacted AeroAngel to ask if it could provide a flight for Jailyn that would arrive within the necessary time constraints. AeroAngel’s primary mission since its founding in 2010 has been to provide free flights on private jets to seriously ill children needing to and from travel to lifesaving medical care at children’s hospitals across the country, usually with a weeks’ notice. “Given Jailyn’s critical need and after careful consideration, we decided to undertake the challenge of trying to find a flight on very short notice,” said Mark Pestal, AeroAngel’s Executive Director and Founder. “To improve the chances of filling this flight, we immediately reached out to our jet operators to let them know of the need, so that when the call came in we had a go-to list,” Pestal added.

A private charter flight from Houston to Pittsburgh has a prohibitivecost of $25,000 or more, and current high charter demand makes finding a flight difficult, particularly on short notice.

Finding a flight in time was made more challenging when CHP’s transplant coordinator called AeroAngel’s Flight Coordinator on Saturday night (the 17th) after 9 p.m. Eastern Time. Jailyn needed to be in Pittsburgh by noon the next day. AeroAngel’s team immediately responded by reaching out to a dozen or more jet operators and within a couple hours had two good options for the flight.

Early Sunday morning, a business jet was airborne in route to Houston’s Executive Airport to pick up Jailyn and her mother. The flight landed back at Pittsburgh International Airport just after noon. A waiting car took Jailyn and her mother to the hospital. Jailyn, who was recently adopted, received her kidney transplant that will allow her to forgo maintenance dialysis and undergo future medical care she needs.

AeroAngel is working to expand its unique flight donation program through its Emergency Flight Fund to serve more of the over 250 children’s hospitals across the country. Photos from Jailyn’s flight are available upon request. For further information or an interview, please contact Mark Pestal at (303) 548-3426 or mark@aeroangel.org / www.aeroangel.org

One-Year-Old flown to Boston Children’s for Critical Care

On January 20, 2021, AeroAngel will fly one-year-old Jayne from her home in Georgia to Boston for a critical surgery. Jayne not only has a limited immune system, but also has to travel with essential medical equipment, so AeroAngel is providing a private jet flight for her to reach Boston Children’s Hospital for her treatment.

AeroAngel is the only organization in the country that provides long-distance flights all on private jet aircraft for very sick children at no cost to families, who need to travel to and from distant, life-saving medical care.  

AeroAngel is based in Denver, Colorado, but provides flights across the country, relying on a network of generous jet donors, volunteer pilots and funded charter flights to fulfill a growing list of urgent flight requests.  Last year, AeroAngel completed nearly 75 flights, and has already completed six in 2021.

“With the COVID storm still overhead, we expect demand for flights to double again this year to help medically fragile children with no other safe options travel to and from life-saving medical care,” said Mark Pestal, AeroAngel’s founder and president,  “For families like Jayne’s, commercial air travel is not a safe option given her special needs and the presence of pathogens in public spaces.”

AeroAngel is a unique aviation charity that helps very sick children get to and from distant, life-saving medical care on private jets at no cost to their families.  Founded in 2010, AeroAngel is a mostly volunteer charity and tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  www.aeroangel.org

Media inquiries:  Sarah Leatherby Sarah@aeroangel.org

Aviation non-profit aids in flights to and from Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia

On January 12, 2021, AeroAngel will fly one-year-old Cassius from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, back to Pensacola, Florida.  Several months ago, Cassius received a stem-cell transplant for a rare immune condition at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia.  Because of his weakened immune system, AeroAngel is providing a private jet flight home for him and his father.   

A commercial flight is not an option given Cassius’ fragile medical state and the COVID-19 pandemic, nor are several days of driving. 

AeroAngel is the only non-profit in the country that provides long-distance flights for very sick children on private jets at no cost to families, who need to travel to distant, life-saving medical care.  

AeroAngel, based in Denver, provides flights across the country, relying on a network of generous jet donors, volunteer pilots and funded charter flights to fulfill a growing list of urgent flight requests.  Last year, AeroAngel completed nearly 75 flights, and Cassius’ will be the fifth flight supporting children receiving treatment at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. 

“With the COVID storm still overhead, we expect demand for flights to double again this year to help medically fragile children with no other safe options travel to and from life-saving medical care,” said Mark Pestal, AeroAngel’s founder and president,  “For families like Cassius’, commercial air travel is not a safe option given the presence of pathogens in public spaces.”

AeroAngel is a unique aviation charity that helps very sick children get to and from distant, life-saving medical care on private jets at no cost to their families.  Founded in 2010, AeroAngel is a non-profit organization and tax-exempt under section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code.  www.aeroangel.org

Media inquiries:  Sarah Leatherby sarah@aeroangel.org