Volunteer pilot flies Arcata boy, kidney donor to Bay Area

Volunteer pilot flies Arcata boy, kidney donor to Bay Area

Thadeus Greenson/The Times-Standard
Eureka Times Standard
Article Launched: 09/11/2007 04:30:29 AM PDT

For Zacc Dray, who will be giving his 4-year-old cousin, Jessiah Class, a kidney today -- the pay off just keeps getting better and better.

”I would give a kidney every month if I could ride in one of these things,” Dray said Sunday, standing next to the blue and white Beachcraft Bonanza six-seat airplane that would take him, Jessiah and his uncle, Doby Class, down to the Bay Area.

Kim and Doby Class, Jessiah's parents, said they were floored by the turnout of 500 people to the family's benefit party at the Bayside Grange Saturday, where Dray received a litany of thank yous and hugs.

But the flight was a gift from a different community.

For Angel Flights, which supplied the trip from the Arcata-Eureka Airport to Oakland at no cost to the Class family, it was just another way to help those in need.

”It's a national organization of volunteer pilots,” said Don Lewis, who has flown with Angel Flights for 13 years and piloted the Class family down south. “All the pilots are volunteers, we provide the aircraft and all the expenses.”

Started in 1983, Angel Flights has helped fly more than 21,000 people to medical treatment, according to the organization's Web site. With a network of pilots across the country, flights are arranged through a regional headquarters -- Santa Monica for western states -- then specific arrangements are made between the pilot and the family.

The service can be especially valuable in a place like Humboldt County, where medical treatment for serious illness and injury is often hundreds of miles away. Lewis said he's already flown missions to Arcata five or six times this year, taking families to medical centers at UC San Francisco or Stanford.

But as Angel Flight's Web site says, the organization is about more than numbers. Each of those 21,000 people needed medical treatment and, in each case, a pilot volunteered time, expertise and an aircraft to help.

On Sunday, Lewis did all the maintenance to his aircraft near his home in Yolo County, took about eight hours flying up to McKinleyville, down to Oakland and back to Yolo -- spending about $200 on fuel in the process -- to give the Class family a hand. To Lewis, it's charity at its best.

”It's much nicer than just writing a check to some organization,” he said. “It's volunteerism and a way to give back. It's no different than any other charity, but you actually get to see the people you're helping.”

In this case, that meant showing Jessiah the engine and the wings, and letting Dray sit as co-pilot.

Doby Class said the trip meant more than a much-needed distraction. Because of the Autosomal Recessive Polycystic Kidney Disease-Chronic Hepatic Fibrosis (ARPKD-CHF) that left Jessiah with abnormally large, cyst-covered kidneys at birth, sitting for prolonged periods of time is difficult for the small boy. Long car rides are often unbearable, he said.

With Lewis' help, Jessiah skipped the five-hour drive down south, and instead spent little more than an hour in the plane. It's also gave Dray, 20, a chance to be a kid for the day.

”Jessiah did great -- he actually fell asleep, if you can believe it,” Doby Class said Monday. “Zacc said it was about the funnest thing he'd ever done.”

Thadeus Greenson can be reached at 441-0509 or tgreenson@times-standard.com

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