Tuesday, September 4, 2012
AOPA Magazine-Flight Before Christmas
PALS Board Chairman and volunteer pilot Joe Howley had the honor of flying little Tyler Peryea and his mom, Jamie home after 6 months of treatment at Cincinnati Children's Hospital. Over those 6 months, while Jamie tended to the needs of her 2 year old, PALS pilots provided flights for his grandparents and little brother to visit. One special occasion was Jamie's second son's first birthday.
PALS is so excited that Tyler is doing so well and home with his family.
AOPA Magazine - Flight Before Christmas, A little boy goes home
Wednesday, August 22, 2012
Jordan Haerter Fishing Tournament... support Jordan's Initiative, Building Homes For Heroes, and Patient Airlift Services
Saturday September 22 will be a day of family fishing, fun, fundraising, music, free food for registered fishermen, laughter, raffles, prizes, and surprises in the most beautiful village on Eastern Long Island. Come on down! No experience is necessary and everyone is welcome. Special fishing mentors for children, discounted registration for Veterans, cash prizes for Striped Bass, Bluefish, and Snappers, chinese raffle, music by The Who Dat Loungers, and more!......Did we mention food!
Website for more information: http://jordansfishingtournament.eventbrite.com/
Come on down and enjoy the fun and help support Jordan's Initiative, Building Homes For Heroes, and Patient Airlift Services.
Making life just a little bit better for our military heroes.- Cash prizes for largest striped bass and blue fish!
- Childrens Snapper derby (Free pole for early registrants!)
- Prize medals for snapper derby fishermen!
- Golf foursome raffles to Atlantic GC and East Hampton GC, along with thousands of dollars of raffle prizes all day long!
- Special live broadcast by personalities from WLNG!
- Special $500 Sea Tow prize for the largest Striped Bass or Bluefish caught on a Sea Tow registered vessel!
- Free T-shirt and BBQ for all registrants!
- Music by the world famous Who Dat Loungers!
- Catered BBQ by the incomparable Peter Ambrose Events!
- Fishing mentors and clinics for children!
- Discounts for early registrants (Register before 9-10-2012)
- Discounted rate for all military veterans. (Must show proof)
Website for more information: http://jordansfishingtournament.eventbrite.com/
Thursday, August 9, 2012
Join PALS Aug 18 at Monmouth County Horse Show
On August 18, 2012, Patient Airlift Services will participate in the Monmouth County Horse Show at the Horse Park of New Jersey in Allentown, NJ. Now in its 117th year, the Monmouth County Horse Show features Jumper and Hunter divisions, as well as the Pilot/Rider Class, a special event to raise money for PALS.
This year’s Pilot/Rider Class boasts a special guest, My Boy Bobby, a one-time Eventing superstar and Horse of the Year who was retired in 2011. My Boy Bobby will be participating with Jessica Kiener and is sure to add to the excitement of the day.
Please join PALS for a wine and cheese reception starting at 4:00pm which will include calling the winners of our auction baskets. Bidding for the Pilot/Rider Class will start at approximately 5:30pm and the event will begin at 6:00pm.
The horse show opens on Wednesday, August 15 and ends on Sunday, August 19. For more information, please email PALS at info@palservices.org.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
PALS on Fox and Friends!
May 20, 2012- PALS Chairman Joe Howley was interviewed by Clayton Morris on Fox and Friends weekend edition Sunday morning May 20. He was joined by wounded serviceman, Gunnery Sgt. John Hayes, from the U.S. Marine Corp, to discuss a recent trip that PALS had arranged to a Chicago Bulls game. See the piece
here.
The link itself is this:
http://video.foxnews.com/v/1647871997001/helping-wounded-veterans-enjoy-some-r--r/
Monday, April 16, 2012
PALS Launches Fuel Reimbursement Program for Pilots
Farmingdale, New York (April 11, 2012). Patient AirLift Services (PALS), the fastest-growing charitable air transportation service in the country, has officially started to reimburse volunteer pilots for the fuel costs related to charitable flights. PALS pilot, Greg Zieba, flew the first reimbursed flight from Farmingdale to Virginia. Under this new PALS program, approved by the Federal Aviation Administration, pilots can receive reimbursement for fuel costs incurred when flying patients in need of medical treatment during charitable missions. Prior to this program, PALS volunteer pilots were responsible for covering all costs associated with charitable missions, including fuel, which has recently risen dramatically in price and become a major factor in the operating cost per flight.
In June of last year, the FAA granted an exception to PALS to allow fuel cost reimbursement. The directive from Melvin Cintron, the FAA’s Acting Deputy Director of Flights Standards Service, states that: “a grant of exemption is in the best public interest.” The letter also supported the change, stating that the “FAA found that humanitarian efforts of these pilots who volunteer their time and piloting services are commendable, and the FAA wants to encourage this kind of volunteerism and public service for the common good of our citizens.”
Pilot Greg Zieba applauded the new guidelines, “I am happy to use my piloting skills to help others. However, the high costs of maintaining a plane and the added fuel expense for flying has made it difficult to commit to many charitable flights.” He went on to say that while the reimbursement program does not cover all fuel costs, “The significant reduction allowed through the program has made it more manageable for me financially.”
“This is a major initiative for PALS,” said PALS Chairman Joseph Howley. “There is a great need for our services among patients who have limited financial resources and are receiving treatment for an acute or chronic illness that make it either financially impossible or impracticable to use commercial or private air travel. The benefit to both PALS and the patients it serves is that pilots, who are limited to the number of missions they could afford to fly due to costs of fuel, will now be able to participate in a greater number of volunteer missions.”
In June of last year, the FAA granted an exception to PALS to allow fuel cost reimbursement. The directive from Melvin Cintron, the FAA’s Acting Deputy Director of Flights Standards Service, states that: “a grant of exemption is in the best public interest.” The letter also supported the change, stating that the “FAA found that humanitarian efforts of these pilots who volunteer their time and piloting services are commendable, and the FAA wants to encourage this kind of volunteerism and public service for the common good of our citizens.”
Pilot Greg Zieba applauded the new guidelines, “I am happy to use my piloting skills to help others. However, the high costs of maintaining a plane and the added fuel expense for flying has made it difficult to commit to many charitable flights.” He went on to say that while the reimbursement program does not cover all fuel costs, “The significant reduction allowed through the program has made it more manageable for me financially.”
“This is a major initiative for PALS,” said PALS Chairman Joseph Howley. “There is a great need for our services among patients who have limited financial resources and are receiving treatment for an acute or chronic illness that make it either financially impossible or impracticable to use commercial or private air travel. The benefit to both PALS and the patients it serves is that pilots, who are limited to the number of missions they could afford to fly due to costs of fuel, will now be able to participate in a greater number of volunteer missions.”
Rachel Jones with her son Blake
Monday, March 5, 2012
PALS in the Olean Times Herald
Pilot John Michaels is a new PALS pilot and a mission he flew was the subject of an article published in the Olean Times Herald.
By Dee Bunk-Hatch Olean Times Herald
OLEAN — At 16 years old, Chris Chesebro has had two brain surgeries.
He considers himself lucky to have had so few.
Chris has a hereditary condition called a chiari malformation, characterized by a structural defect in the cerebellum in which the cerebellum and brain stem are pushed downward by a smaller-than-normal lower rear of the skull.
“I had headaches,” Chris told the Times Herald of his symptoms. Although the headaches began when he was about 5, they became debilitating when he hit puberty.
In addition to the headaches, which left him unable to go to school or behave like a normal teenager, Chris suffered from short-term memory loss and dizziness, although he did not know the cause until approximately two years ago.
A trip to the emergency room during an unusually bad headache led to a CT scan, and the eventual chiari malformation diagnosis.
The condition is so rare, many doctors miss it and misdiagnose patients, Chris’ mother, Christie Chesebro, said. She noted that only 5 percent of the world’s population suffer from the symptomatic form of the condition.
In 2010, Chris underwent a surgery to decompress the area by removing several vertebrae, allowing the displaced portion of his cerebellum to be moved back into its proper position.
This surgery provided only temporary relief — an instability in his neck allowed the cerebellum to drop back into the incorrect position.
The family then pursued help from the Chiari Institute in Great Neck; the Chiari Institute, founded in 2001, specializes in research and treatment of this condition and others like it.
Chris was told he would need a second surgery, this time to both move his brain back into place and to fuse his neck to increase its stability.
“It was a tough decision,” Mrs. Chesebro said.
The family left the decision up to Chris, and he said at first he was hesitant, remembering the pain following the first procedure.
Ultimately, Chris decided to undergo the surgery following some wise words from his doctor at the Chiari Institute.
“He said ‘you’ll feel bad for a couple of months after but you’ll feel better for the rest of your life’,” Chris told the Times Herald.
“He just wanted to start feeling better,” said Chris’ father, Brad Chesebro.
The seven-hour surgery on Feb. 16 went perfectly, and Chris was up and walking by the next day. After five days in the hospital and another week nearby at the Ronald McDonald House — about which the family had rave reviews — he was cleared to go home.
Getting home was an ordeal in itself, as the possibility of whiplash and rough roads between Long Island and Olean made driving impossible so soon after a cranial fusion, and commercial flight would prove too taxing so soon after such a major surgery.
The Chesebro family learned about an organization known as Patient Airlift Services, or PALS, which provides free air transport for medical patients or humanitarian causes. Although PALS normally requires advanced notice to arrange a flight, the group quickly found a pilot willing to take Chris from Great Neck to the Olean Municipal Airport.
“Things were able to work out really, really well for us,” Mr. Chesebro said.
The cordial pilot, John Michaels of Glens Falls, and the plane’s depressurized cabin put Chris at ease; he napped on the journey home, his parents said.
Now home, Chris is enduring a six-week hiatus from school and three months without long car travel or strenuous physical activity. Despite his initial anxiety, Chris said he is glad he underwent the second surgery.
“I’m doing better every day,” he said.
Although his neck remains sore from the procedure, his headaches have subsided, and he is optimistic that he will continue to improve. Physical therapy three times a week is also proving beneficial.
The surgery will not eliminate Chris’ previous symptoms, but it will prevent the formation of others associated with his chiari malformation. Chris said he is thankful he did not have other symptoms — such as muscle weakness, numbness and vision problems — which many of the other individuals he met at the Chiari Institute suffered from.
Many had undergone multiple surgeries, and the Chesebro family remarked at how thankful they were that Chris’ condition should be corrected after only two.
The community support has been overwhelming, Mr. Chesebro said.
“A number of the area churches got together to help us out financially,” he noted.
Olean High School, where Chris is a 10th-grader, has accommodated his medical restrictions by providing a tutor each day, and the Medical Loan Closet supplied the family with a hospital bed for use during his recovery.
“What a blessing to have,” Mr. Chesebro said of the support. “We’re just thankful for the support of the churches and the community and the love and support.”
“Even Chris said it was amazing how God arranged things,” Mrs. Chesebro said.
Chris is expected to make a full recovery and return to normal activity by summer. Although he will be unable to play high-contact sports such as football or wrestling, he will be permitted to play his sport of preference: tennis.
“We’re certainly thankful the family is back home now. We’re just glad he’s feeling better,” Mr. Chesebro concluded.
(Contact reporter Dee Bunk-Hatch at dbunkhatch@oleantimesherald.com. Follow her on Twitter, @OTHDee)
Link to story: http://www.oleantimesherald.com/news/article_81cfe1ca-66c2-11e1-8a99-0019bb2963f4.html
By Dee Bunk-Hatch Olean Times Herald
OLEAN — At 16 years old, Chris Chesebro has had two brain surgeries.
He considers himself lucky to have had so few.
Chris has a hereditary condition called a chiari malformation, characterized by a structural defect in the cerebellum in which the cerebellum and brain stem are pushed downward by a smaller-than-normal lower rear of the skull.
“I had headaches,” Chris told the Times Herald of his symptoms. Although the headaches began when he was about 5, they became debilitating when he hit puberty.
In addition to the headaches, which left him unable to go to school or behave like a normal teenager, Chris suffered from short-term memory loss and dizziness, although he did not know the cause until approximately two years ago.
A trip to the emergency room during an unusually bad headache led to a CT scan, and the eventual chiari malformation diagnosis.
The condition is so rare, many doctors miss it and misdiagnose patients, Chris’ mother, Christie Chesebro, said. She noted that only 5 percent of the world’s population suffer from the symptomatic form of the condition.
In 2010, Chris underwent a surgery to decompress the area by removing several vertebrae, allowing the displaced portion of his cerebellum to be moved back into its proper position.
This surgery provided only temporary relief — an instability in his neck allowed the cerebellum to drop back into the incorrect position.
The family then pursued help from the Chiari Institute in Great Neck; the Chiari Institute, founded in 2001, specializes in research and treatment of this condition and others like it.
Chris was told he would need a second surgery, this time to both move his brain back into place and to fuse his neck to increase its stability.
“It was a tough decision,” Mrs. Chesebro said.
The family left the decision up to Chris, and he said at first he was hesitant, remembering the pain following the first procedure.
Ultimately, Chris decided to undergo the surgery following some wise words from his doctor at the Chiari Institute.
“He said ‘you’ll feel bad for a couple of months after but you’ll feel better for the rest of your life’,” Chris told the Times Herald.
“He just wanted to start feeling better,” said Chris’ father, Brad Chesebro.
The seven-hour surgery on Feb. 16 went perfectly, and Chris was up and walking by the next day. After five days in the hospital and another week nearby at the Ronald McDonald House — about which the family had rave reviews — he was cleared to go home.
Getting home was an ordeal in itself, as the possibility of whiplash and rough roads between Long Island and Olean made driving impossible so soon after a cranial fusion, and commercial flight would prove too taxing so soon after such a major surgery.
The Chesebro family learned about an organization known as Patient Airlift Services, or PALS, which provides free air transport for medical patients or humanitarian causes. Although PALS normally requires advanced notice to arrange a flight, the group quickly found a pilot willing to take Chris from Great Neck to the Olean Municipal Airport.
“Things were able to work out really, really well for us,” Mr. Chesebro said.
The cordial pilot, John Michaels of Glens Falls, and the plane’s depressurized cabin put Chris at ease; he napped on the journey home, his parents said.
Now home, Chris is enduring a six-week hiatus from school and three months without long car travel or strenuous physical activity. Despite his initial anxiety, Chris said he is glad he underwent the second surgery.
“I’m doing better every day,” he said.
Although his neck remains sore from the procedure, his headaches have subsided, and he is optimistic that he will continue to improve. Physical therapy three times a week is also proving beneficial.
The surgery will not eliminate Chris’ previous symptoms, but it will prevent the formation of others associated with his chiari malformation. Chris said he is thankful he did not have other symptoms — such as muscle weakness, numbness and vision problems — which many of the other individuals he met at the Chiari Institute suffered from.
Many had undergone multiple surgeries, and the Chesebro family remarked at how thankful they were that Chris’ condition should be corrected after only two.
The community support has been overwhelming, Mr. Chesebro said.
“A number of the area churches got together to help us out financially,” he noted.
Olean High School, where Chris is a 10th-grader, has accommodated his medical restrictions by providing a tutor each day, and the Medical Loan Closet supplied the family with a hospital bed for use during his recovery.
“What a blessing to have,” Mr. Chesebro said of the support. “We’re just thankful for the support of the churches and the community and the love and support.”
“Even Chris said it was amazing how God arranged things,” Mrs. Chesebro said.
Chris is expected to make a full recovery and return to normal activity by summer. Although he will be unable to play high-contact sports such as football or wrestling, he will be permitted to play his sport of preference: tennis.
“We’re certainly thankful the family is back home now. We’re just glad he’s feeling better,” Mr. Chesebro concluded.
(Contact reporter Dee Bunk-Hatch at dbunkhatch@oleantimesherald.com. Follow her on Twitter, @OTHDee)
Link to story: http://www.oleantimesherald.com/news/article_81cfe1ca-66c2-11e1-8a99-0019bb2963f4.html
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