Last year, before his second birthday, LaMonte was diagnosed with childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL). The family lives in Billings, Mont., but the devastating diagnosis meant his family had to spend nearly 11 months in Colorado for LaMonte’s treatment. “Because it’s such a rare form of leukemia, he’s required more treatment than other patients,” says LaMonte’s mother MaKenna.
Now, while the family is happy to be back home, their drive to and from Children’s Hospital Colorado isn’t just a few towns over, it’s hundreds of miles away — an eight-hour drive across the entire state of Wyoming. With MaKenna unable to work to care for her son, the financial burden of transportation made LaMonte’s journey to health even more stressful, until they heard about Angel Flight West (AFW).
Through the passenger assistance fund, AFW was able to purchase commercial airline tickets for the family to fly back-and-forth between their home and medical facility this past year. “We’ve already encountered so many financial burdens from LaMonte’s illness,” MaKenna says. “These tickets helped so much.”
On other occasions, AFW’s volunteer pilots were able to answer the call. MaKenna recalls when one of their AFW pilots, Bob Stewart, went the extra mile by picking the family up at the hospital and driving them to the airport. “Every pilot has made such an impact on us. It’s shown us we’re not alone.”
Today, LaMonte continues to fight his illness, but he’s not that different than other boys his age. “He’s a spunky three-year-old who loves anything to do with superheroes and ninja turtles,” says MaKenna.
Your help is needed to keep patients like LaMonte flying to care. In addition to making it possible for AFW to arrange flights, your gift supports AFW’s passenger assistance fund, enabling AFW to purchase tickets for passengers in need of transportation to care.
