Angel Flight West’s eighth annual 5K will help the organization continue its mission to break down the barrier of access to transportation for medical care, a push made possible by people like Colorado Springs-area pilot David Begin.
“Public benefit flying is a whole category — sometimes small aircrafts can get in and deliver goods after hurricanes, there’s dog rescue organizations that fly animals from one part of the country to the next, and Angel Flight West flies people that have medical needs to larger cities to get treatment or evaluation,” Begin said.
On Sept. 27, runners and supporters will gather at Rocky Mountain Metropolitan Airport in the Broomfield area to participate in the Run for the Angels 5K walk and run, an event raising funds for Angel Flight West.
Begin has been volunteering with Angel Flight West since selling his businesses a few years ago and finding time he wanted to donate to a good cause.
“We donate our time, our aircrafts, aviation fuel and whatever it takes to get that mission done,” he said. “It’s really gratifying for me to step in and help those people during a difficult time — to know that you’re volunteering all this to make their lives a little easier.”
Begin said he’s encountered passengers with many barriers to taking commercial flights, and Angel Flight West’s services include helping those who can’t afford the cost, who need special accommodations or are too severely immunocompromised to be in a small and crowded place.
For the patients who use Angel Flight West and their families, transportation to medical appointments can make a huge difference for their lives.
Linda Dunham said her husband Rick was diagnosed with a Stage 4 glioblastoma in 2014, a type of malignant brain tumor, she said. The couple was living in Oregon at the time but traveled frequently to the San Francisco area for his treatment.
“They originally gave him 14 months to live, and he survived three years,” Dunham said. “I really have to attribute that so much to Angel Flight, being able to get us to the appointments that he needed.”
Dunham said that transportation likely wouldn’t have been possible without Angel Flight West. In addition to being a 10-hour drive from their home, Rick’s condition could make travel by car dangerous.
“Rick would have seizures while I was driving, and most times he could tell when one was coming on, but I had to take action immediately, and that was impossible to do while driving,” she said. Flying with the organization proved easier and safer for them both, she said.
“All of the pilots and copilots were all so kind and patient even when sometimes Rick wasn’t as easy to get into the plane as you might hope,” Dunham said, adding that she still keeps in touch with some of the pilots who helped them.
Despite the difficulties of Rick’s diagnosis, Dunham said she loved caring for Rick and that she loved reading to him and being intentional with their time together.
“He was a peach, very easy to care for, and always a strong and gentle soul,” Dunham said. “He passed away in August of 2017 and he was singing Christmas carols the night before, trying to escape the hospital room and just being a joy to be around.”
With fundraisers like the Run for the Angels 5K, Angel Flight West is able to provide other patients with transportation, raising enough money to provide nearly 100 flights in recent years, according to a news release.
“The extra time we had together was everything — we were very present with each other, I feel like we fell in love with each other all over again” Dunham said. “It was so wonderful to have those years, and our kids and grandkids got to see him more and we all had a lot of time with him. It was absolutely a blessing.”