Pilots for Patients makes 500th mission

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Pilots for Patients makes 500th mission

    * By AMY WOLD
    * Advocate staff writer
    * Published: Mar 3, 2010 - UPDATED: 7 p.m.

Pilots for Patients performed its 500th mission today, flying a 15-year-old Abita Springs boy to Houston for treatment of a genetic disorder.

“I thought it was pretty cool that I’m in this plane, by myself. Not with everyone else,” Christian Billingsley said before taking off in a Beechcraft Baron from Baton Rouge Metro Airport.

Well, there were two other people aboard: His father, Gene Billingsley, and volunteer pilot Philip Coyne, of Clinton.

For the past two years, the nonprofit Pilots for Patients, based in Monroe, has provided air travel for Louisiana patients seeking medical treatment.

Christian Billingsley travels to Houston at least once a month for treatment. He is the eldest child of Gene Billingsley, 43, and his wife, Aida, 42. Christian Billingsley’s younger siblings are Gabrielle, 12, and Brandon, 6.

Christian Billingsley was born with atypical hemolytic uremic syndrome, an auto-immune condition in which the body attacks itself, with the kidneys especially vulnerable, Gene Billingsley said.

Christian Billingsley is involved in a program in Houston that allows him to undergo dialysis at home, but he still needs to make regular visits to doctors in Houston.

“There’s treatment we can get in Houston that’s not available here,” Gene Billingsley said.

That’s where Pilots for Patients comes in.

Philip Thomas, president of the organization, said there were a number of volunteer pilots in Louisiana involved with a regional group in 1999, but after Hurricane Katrina the Louisiana pilots didn’t feel they were still being included. So, a group of pilots formed the Louisiana-based group and took their first flight on Jan. 14, 2008.

About 75 pilots volunteer with the program, but the organization is looking for more pilots, especially in south Louisiana, Thomas said.

“We’re just really here to help our Louisiana friends and neighbors,” he said. “These pilots give of their time, their airplane and their fuel.”

To qualify for the free flights, patients need to be medically stable and able to climb into a small airplane on their own, Thomas said. Patients younger than 18 must have an adult travel with them.

Volunteer pilots come from all walks of life and include doctors, lawyers, businessmen, farmers and retirees, Thomas said.

Coyne — today's volunteer pilot — retired last year after 30 years in oilfield work, some of which involved flying. At age 58, he said, he was looking for a volunteer opportunity and came across the Pilots for Patients website. Coyne volunteered his services and his Beechcraft Baron.

“It’s just been very, very rewarding,” he said. “I’ll keep up with it as long as I keep flying.”

Coyne has flown the Billingsleys several times, the last time giving Christian Billingsley a toy airplane. Before Wednesday’s takeoff, Coyne handed the youngster a toy helicopter.

With good humor, Billingsley said Coyne told him he figured the plane from last time had already been crashed so he probably needed a new one.

When asked the fate of the first toy, Billingsley laughed and admitted that yes, he’d crashed it a few times, but was quick to add, “It’s not broken.”

Just after 11 a.m., the Billingsleys and Coyne walked out of the Louisiana Aircraft LLC facility and boarded the plane for the hour and 30 minute flight.

“We feel there’s a real need in Louisiana for our service,” Thomas said.

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http://www.pilotsforpatients.org/
 
 
 
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