By Nick Diamantides, Staff Writer
About 13 young patients from Miller’s Children Hospital got the chance to pilot airplanes from Long Beach to the Palos Verdes Peninsula and back last week. The flights were part of the hospital’s ongoing efforts to remind the youngsters that their injuries and illnesses need not hold them back from attaining their goals and having a bright future.
“This is very good for the kids,” said Dr. Kimberly BeDell, director of the hospital’s pediatric rehabilitation department. “It makes them happy, it gives them a positive outlook and a sense of accomplishment, and it shows them that if they are willing to try, they can learn to do new things.”
The flying event began at the California Flight Center–located at Long Beach Airport–last Thursday. Sponsored by the hospital, the nonprofit Spirit of Suzi Foundation, and the Flight Center, the program began in 2002 and allows young patients to take to the skies two or three times each year.
“The California Flight Center donates its time and the fuel, the pilots donate their time, and aircraft owners donate the use of the airplanes,” said Keith Furlong, Flight Center president. “We’ve seen quite a few kids do this multiple times and it’s very gratifying to see the progress they make both in their own physical mobility and in their ability to control the airplanes.” He noted that several of the youngsters have expressed a desire to become professional pilots.
“When I grow up, I am going to be either a pilot or a physical therapist,” said 12-year-old Leonardo Vicente Gama, one of the kids at last week’s event.
Gama almost lost his life as a result of a prank played by one of his schoolmates. The campus of the middle school he attends in west Los Angeles is divided by a street and an underground tunnel joins the two sections. When a group of pupils were walking down the stairs into the tunnel, one of the kids sprayed deodorant into Gama’s face temporarily blinding him.
“That made me fall down the stairs and hurt my ankle,” he said.
“The doctors said it was just a sprained ankle,” said his mother, Maria. “But a few days later, he had a very high fever and I took him to the emergency room again.” The fever subsided, and he was sent home, but shortly after that, the entire left side of his body became numb and she rushed him to the hospital again.
It turned out he had an undiscovered blood clot in his right leg, which caused a very serious infection. The right leg had to be amputated below the knee.
“If not for the amputation, the infection would have spread and killed me,” Gama said. “The doctors said that I was one of the very few people that survive the kind of infection that I had.”
Tiffany Boyd, a 16-year old Norwalk resident who has Spina Bifida, also took to the skies on Thursday. “This was my second time in the plane, but I didn’t sit behind the controls this time,” she said. “It was really cool, because I got to take some great pictures.”
Licensed pilots handle the take-offs and landings, but the kids get to maneuver the planes under the pilots’ watchful eyes for about 30 minutes. “I love kids and it’s great to see the looks on their faces when they are actually controlling the plane,” said Sonny Maliksi, one of the pilots. “I am very glad to be part of this program.”
Dora Haraviston, Miller Hospital physical therapist echoed his comments. “!where they are coming from, and all that they have been through, this experience is truly a blessing for all these kids,” she added.
