It can get quite hard to realise the affect that your actions have when you repeat them often.
We have flown in support of MAF and Flying for Life many times the past
few years and each time is always a big day out. The paperwork and
flight plans are filed in the preceding week and we often take the
aircraft to a local airport with runway lights the day before and fill
it up with fuel. The day of the flight we get up just after 03:30 to
drive to the airport where we do pre-flight checks before taking off in
the dark, bound for Johannesburg. In the depth of winter (July) we land
in Jhb just before the sun rises.
There we meet our passengers, load their supplies and can be on the
ground for as little as 20 mins before setting off once again for
Thohoyandou in the Limpopo province, almost two hours flying away. Once
there, we unload before an hours drive to the hospital the team are
working in.
There the patients are already waiting, usually prepped and ready for
their life changing surgery that will restore sight to their eyes. This
will not only affect them of course, but countless others in the
communities such as families that rely on them to look after children
while they are out at work or tending the fields.
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| The first lady was 95 and lived only three doors down from the hospital |
Last Saturday we were again flying a team of nurses, doctors and
surgeons to this hospital. Unfortunately eye issues are not seen as a
priority by the department of health, after all, no one dies from
blindness. This is reflected by the fact that in Limpopo, a province six
times the size of Wales and with a population of 5 million people,
there are only two hospitals equipped to offer eye cataract surgery. Our
efforts to take specialists to Thohoyandou increased this number to
three, but only of course for one day per month. The other sad fact is
that people that were seen by our team were diagnosed as needing the
treatment in January of 2017!
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| Proff uses a Schiotz Tonometer to measure eye pressure |
The team are dedicated and compassionate and work tirelessly from the
minute they get there till the last possible moment before we have to
drive back to the airstrip in order to safely get airborne before the
sun sets. This ensures that the maximum number of people have the chance
to benefit from their expertise.
Fortunately the pilot was able to use a private room at the hospital to get some
rest before the long trek back. Within minutes of taking off it was
dark, but the clouds that had made the morning trip up interesting, had
cleared and there were no delays to our landing back in Jhb. As the team
began their drive home, we refueled the plane and then set back off
into the night for the last 1h30 flight to where we had begun the day, or
at least to the local airport with runway lights, where we put the plane
to bed before driving up the hill to arrive at Mercy Air and a very
welcome cup of coffee just before 22:30.
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| The bright lights of Jhb from 11000' |
So, 'a grand day out' as Wallace and Gromit would say, but quite
insignificant when compared to the extra lease of life given to the many
people whose lives have been changed, and the many more who will
benefit in the rural communities from their renewed sight.
Thank you
Paul for the Mercy Air team
