There's no question that being a parent can be really hard sometimes, especially if your child has special needs or is very ill.
That's why one local organization has found a creative way to give families a way to get above it all.
Today I spent some time with one of the six volunteer pilots wanting to bring a smile to kids in need.
“Oh it’s a hoot. It’s a lot of fun,” said Paul Reidy, Chief Pilot for the non-profit, Kids In Flight. “Who wouldn’t want to help out sick kids. Basically it’s as simple as that.”
The Kids in Flight annual ‘Wings of Wonder’ event gives kids with special needs, and chronic illnesses the chance to do something out of the ordinary.
S”Their day to day grind with the doctors and the hospitals, it’s tough on the kids and the families as well. So we get them out here, and they can just be kids for a day,” said Reidy.
Nine year old Nathan Murry, is just one of them.
Now in remission, at just 3 years old, he was diagnosed with stage three tissue cancer, causing his body to shut down.
“He lost all language, he couldn’t talk. He went down to four words. It was horrible,” said his mother, LaToya Murry.
Still needing constant care, his dad, Samson Murry, tell me it’s a big juggling act, one they wouldn’t mind getting a break from every once in a while.
“There is just constant go, go, go, go...so it was a lot of things just balancing at the same time. So Kids in Flight gave us an opportunity to step back give us a time to relax.”
So he's been waiting all year just for this moment to take to the sky.
“Oh he loves it! He loves it. It’s flying in the airplane that part that you know really excites him...it gives you something to look forward to,” Nathan’s mom said.
Both his parents tell me what they love the most is for one moment his pain floats away.
“It’s like freedom, and especially freedom away from what you’re going through at that moment.”
This is the 13th year for the “Wings of Wonder’ program. More than 400 kids in need will be in airborne at the event this Saturday.
