Friday, June 1, 2012

Angel Flights Bring Comfort, Spare Costs


Blue Cullen, one of the patients Ed Patenaude has flown for Angel Flights Northeast. Cullen has traveled to Cape Cod Hospital many times for her radiation treatments, courtesy of Patenaude and Angel Flights NE. (courtesy photo)

By Sydney Jarrard
Staff Columnist

RYE –
Ed Patenaude started volunteering as a pilot for Angel Flight Northeast more than ten years ago. Angel Flight NE is a program providing transportation to and from medical appointments for patients in need, at absolutely no charge. It is supported by donations and corporate sponsors, but an enormous investment comes from the 1,000 plus pilots who donate their time and resources to the cause. In his time, Patenaude has flown more than 650 missions for Angel Flight.
Larry Camerlin, who is an avid pilot in Massachusetts and has a background in health care and ministry, started the Northeast branch of Angel Flight in 1996 with just ten volunteer pilots. It now has more than 1,800 volunteers and has served 60,000 patients in its time The program is supported by the pilots who fly patients to appointments, the Earth Angels who provide on-the-ground assistance, and the people who coordinate all of the missions from behind the scenes. These flights help medically-stable and ambulatory people reach the treatment they need as often as they need it, or reach a loved one in their time of need (called “compassion” visits).  The organization does about 100 missions per week, and is proud to say that they have never turned down a request.
When Patenaude signed up for flying lessons in 1976, he did not expect to be where he is today, flying as many as ten missions in a single week for Angel Flight NE. His interest in flying actually started with an interest in a snowmobile for sale at a local store. The shopkeeper there continually asked a price higher than Patenaude could pay. After being told to return at the end of the season to receive a discounted price, Patenaude waited out the winter and when it came time, the owner went back on his word and still insisted on the higher price. Patenaude walked out of the shop, discouraged, and came face-to-face with a sign advertising flying lessons – for the exact amount of money he had saved for the snowmobile. It was meant to be. “I found my passion,” says Patenaude.
Knowing his love for the air, a friend mentioned to Patenaude an organization that helped patients get to medical appointments via plane. He decided to sign up, he made it through the approval process, and he tried it out. “It was pretty phenomenal,” Patenaude says. He began flying patients regularly, and found that his Cherokee Six plane, with a rear door, was easily accessible for his patients. He recently switched to a smaller plane, a Mooney. 
But he is looking to go back to using the Cherokee, because for Patenaude, it’s all about the patients.
 “Most of the time the people we fly are very sick and at a tough time in their lives, and the last thing they want to be doing is getting into a small airplane to go to Boston for treatment,” says Patenaude, who took this realization and found practices to make these trips better. He talks to the patient during the flight through headsets, and he often invites the patient to sit up front with him, if they are able. Some have been lucky enough to take a try at handling the controls (with Patenaude’s help, of course). Seeing how difficult it can be to battle a serious illness, Patenaude began requesting the same patients so he could get to spend more time with them and make the trip easier, and so they could get accustomed to having just one pilot. Beyond all that, he tries to make it an enjoyable experience. “I’d like for you to see this as an adventure in your life,” Patenaude tells them.
Patenaude says his work with Angel Flight has greatly affected him. “You realize what’s important when you meet someone who’s going through this,” he says. He receives holiday cards each year from former and current patients, and he does get notices if one of his patients has passed. Those days are not easy for Patenaude, he says, so he makes it a point to treat people in his daily life with as much care and kindness as the patients he flies. He knows that his patients have given him a positive experience, and he wants to see the world embrace that, and pass it on. “We’re all kind of holding hands. We’re on a journey here. It’s our job to help people out when they need it. It helped my attitude. It helped me realize that you don’t have to take life so seriously. It can be as short as another minute or another second from now,” he says.
After the lessons, the FAA tests, meeting currency regulations, and his career in the construction business, Patenaude has maintained his passion for flying and for the enjoyment that his volunteering has brought. On average, he flies three to four missions per week, and spends time remembering the patients he has built amazing relationships with, even if he’s lost them along the way. “You realize how lucky you are, to have what you have,” Patenaude says. “We can all help out in some way. You don’t need an airplane. It can be just holding a door.”

Eagle Scout to be Honored

DOVER –
Troop 358 of Barrington is hosting an Eagle Court of Honor to recognize and celebrate Samuel Cheney for his achieving Eagle Scout.  The ceremony will be held on Sunday, June 3, at 1 p.m. at Saint Joseph Church, 150 Central Avenue in Dover.  Cheney’s Eagle project consisted of extensive work on the Waste Management Gonic Trails at Mount Isinglas Recreational Area in Rochester which included planning and directing the construction of 2 bridges across streams, the blazing of the Blue and Red trails with trail markers to improve navigability, installation of hand-made blue, red, and yellow directional arrow signs at key intersections, and installing a post at the trailhead with blue and yellow arrows to identify trail paths.  This project involved more than 206 hours of labor by members of his troop and other volunteers.
The Eagle Scout rank is the highest rank in Boy Scouting with only two percent of all scouts achieving this award. 
Special guest at the event will be Ovide Lamontagne, 2012 Candidate for Governor of New Hampshire and 2009 New Hampshire Distinguished Citizen of the Year. (courtesy photo)