For families with sick children who need medical care outside their community, AeroAngel, a nonprofit that provides free flights to distant medical centers, truly lives up to its name.
“There’s already enough stress with the treatments,” said Julie Korb, whose 13-year-old daughter, Amara Kirk, was diagnosed this winter with childhood leukemia. “So knowing there’s a safe way to get to and from (treatments) is super helpful.”
Since 2010, the Denver-based AeroAngel has provided free flights in a private jet to more than 200 children in need of medical care far from their communities.
Drives can be lengthy, and many illnesses require children to be at least within an hour of a major medical center in case of emergencies. From Durango to Denver, for instance, there are many areas where that’s not attainable.
And even before the COVID-19 outbreak, airports and commercial planes were easy places to get sick – highly unsafe environments for a child with a compromised immune system, made even worse by the pandemic.
The man behind AeroAngel is Mark Pestal, a retired Denver attorney who has been a pilot for 30 years.
Pestal began flying in college. After law school, he joined the U.S. Department of Justice. He retired in August 2019 as an assistant U.S. attorney in Denver and then turned his passion and hobby of flying toward a force for good.
After working with another aviation charity in the 2000s, he became aware of the challenges faced by sick people who needed to travel. The realization would eventually spark the idea for AeroAngel.
“I just saw a need for it,” Pestal said.
Pestal said AeroAngel provides flights to children across the country, at no cost to the family. AeroAngel uses volunteer professional pilots to fly “high-performance” aircraft, whose owners donate use of the planes.
“The problem is, if you have a child that’s medically fragile ... and can’t fly commercially, they can’t access treatment without a private jet flight,” he said. “And unless you are super wealthy, you can’t afford that.”
Pestal said AeroAngel recently become involved with two Durango families.
Korb said she was connected to the nonprofit through a mutual friend. Her daughter was diagnosed in February and now requires some treatment in Denver. Without AeroAngel’s flights, Korb said her family would have to take the risk of driving.
“My daughter ... if she gets a fever, we have to be within an hour of the hospital,” Korb said. “Driving from Durango to Denver, there’s plenty of zones where we wouldn’t be within an hour to get to a hospital.”
Another major benefit of the flights is Amara can be home in Durango, around her family and friends, not long after treatments, instead of having to be in a hotel room in Denver or making a six-hour drive home.
“Part of the healing, it’s her feeling normal,” Korb said.
Pestal said part of the rewarding experience of providing flights is getting to know the children he’s helping.
“That’s a real cool aspect of flights,” he said. “You get to know the passengers and their family.”
Amara, for example, is a four-time state champion freestyle skier at only 13 years old.
Korb said Amara is currently in remission for B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia and is halfway through her nine months of intensive chemotherapy. She’ll have to continue treatments until July 2022.
“After undergoing all these chemotherapies, having a safe, fast flight home is a huge part of her recovery. AeroAngel is a truly amazing organization helping families get their children to life-saving medical care,” Korb said.
Pestal said he wants to expand AeroAngel’s reach.
“We’ve been building up the program and hope to scale up over the next few years,” he said.
jromeo@durangoherald.com