“It’s time we recognize the great contributions by general aviation to the public good,” said Mark Wolper, President & Executive Producer of The Wolper Organization at Warner Bros. and Chair of the Endeavor Awards Host Committee. “Watching this linked video about 2-year-old Tyler Peryea and his mom, Jamie, will help our supporters understand why we established the Endeavor Awards.”
At the controls of his Pilatus PC–12 turboprop, volunteer pilot Joe Howley is flying Tyler and Jamie Peryea free of charge, donating his time and money simply to transport Tyler home from the hospital.
Once safely on board, Tyler says, “Ho ho.” He knows he’s going home, and he’s excited for Santa to come.
It’s June, and Tyler has just spent six months at a hospital 800 miles away from his home to treat his rare disease, hemophagocytic lymphohistiocytosis, or HLH. HLH usually affects infants and young children, and without treatment, the patient will likely die. Fortunately, Tyler and Jamie had been able to go to the best HLH treatment facility in the nation.
Aboard the aircraft, it turns out that Tyler loves flying, cruising up and down the aisle the entire trip, using the seats, tables, and galley as handholds along the way. Jamie said it was the most walking he’d done in a year.
This story exemplifies our mission with the Endeavor Awards. It’s time to recognize the great contributions by general aviation to the public good.
People like Tyler are the reason Howley spends so much time and money on the Patient AirLift Services (PALS). He started the nationwide service organization on Memorial Day 2010. It has since grown to 200 fully vetted pilots, 100 pilot-applicants, and 100 scheduled flights a month.
“They think I’m Chuck Yeager,” Howley says. “There’s no distinction between me and an airline pilot.” His point is that there’s a big obligation for the pilot in these situations. It’s when general aviation transforms from recreation to responsibility.
(Excerpts from Flight Before Christmas by Ian J. Twombly, AOPA.org.)
About The Endeavor Awards:
The Endeavor Awards is an annual event honoring the pilots, individuals and support organizations, corporations and government agencies most responsible for providing Public Benefit Aviation. Sponsoring organizations will hold the inaugural Endeavor Awards event on May 4, 2014 at the Samuel Oschin Space Shuttle Endeavour Pavilion in the California Science Center.