The nation’s leading medical flight charity Miracle Flights has reported 472 free commercial airline flights provided last month to critically ill children and adults in need of specialized medical care far from home. December marks the midpoint of Miracle Flights’ fiscal year, which ends June 2018, and so far, the national nonprofit organization is on pace to surpass last year’s record-setting flight count of 8,226 for fiscal year 2016-17.
Since launching in 1985, Miracle Flights has provided more than 113,000 free flights and flown more than 64 million miles to help patients with rare and life-threatening medical conditions receive valuable second opinions and life-changing treatment from medical specialists out of state. Whether it’s a one-time flight to receive a critical diagnosis—or multiple flights for ongoing care—there is no limit to the number of times Miracle Flights will fly a sick child for free.
“Sometimes just one flight can make a valuable difference. Over the holidays, we reconnected with a little boy named Jackson, whom we flew just once last year to see a specialist at UCLA,” said Miracle Flights CEO Mark E. Brown. “That one flight allowed Jackson to be properly diagnosed with a rare condition called infantile spasms and get started on the right treatment path. One year later, he’s seizure free and thriving.”
However, noted Brown, most families the organization serves do require multiple flights. “The extreme example of that is a family we fly in which both siblings have such a severe food allergy, they need a flight every other week for treatment. The cost of that much air travel would be crushing for anyone, but fortunately Miracle Flights can help fulfill that need time and again.”
Headquartered in Las Vegas, Miracle Flights operates both domestically and internationally, providing flights across the country and around the globe. December flights included passengers from 27 U.S. states as well from Israel, the United Kingdom, Honduras, Brazil and Peru.
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 113,000 flights and counting.