Wings for Humanity

Guyana reportFlying theYellow PlaneforJESUS“Do you want to do a medivac orwork clinic today?” I heard the voiceon the other end of the phone line ask.Chrystal and I were just finishingour meeting with Bill LaBore, ourproject manager, when the callcame in. Now I had to make a quickdecision—should I medivac the boywith the possible appendicitis toGeorgetown soon or should I helpin the clinic?Early I had discussed withMedex Willis about coming up tothe hospital to assist him. On thisparticular Thursday no physicianswould be there; merely Medex, theonly clinician. Having a couple ofskill sets can put one in a quandaryas to which to use. Since it did notappear to be a particularly busy dayat the clinic, I thought for a secondabout my primary role—being a pilot,and I had not flown for a couple of days.Then I also considered the personaladvantage in flying to Georgetown.I could pick up some items that wereThe VANFOSSEN Familyneeded, as well as bring back a coupleof barrels containing Christmas giftsfrom the States, which we have been“piece-mealing” back to Mabaruma.“I’ll do the medivac,” I said.I then called the clinic to informMedex of my decision, but he was notavailable. So I discussed it with theperson on the other end of the phone,When I am out doing visitationsand mention thatI fly the yellow airplane, itopens up conversationsand gives opportunitiesto share why we are inGuyana—and requested the ambulance to comeout to our house to give me a ride tothe airstrip. Since it normally takesabout one-half hour to walk from thehouse to the airstrip, it made sense tohave someone pick me up—whichthey were willing to do.Upon arrival at the airstrip I foundJud and Karen Wickwire siphoningfuel out of the plane I was to take. As Ifinished doing my preflight inspectionthey had finished taking off 20 gallons.After setting the last jerry can onthe ground, they rode off on theirmotorcycle. They weren’t stealingit—just taking it off for storage sincewe don’t have a source of fuel inthe interior. It would be taken backto their house for storage by theambulance driver after dropping offthe patient.A few minutes later a nurse andtwo patients arrived. One was theboy with abdominal pain and theother a pregnant woman needing togo to Georgetown for an ultrasound.In most cases we are unsure of howmany patients/passengers will fly withus until we get in the plane.After take-off I got my phone outand noticed that Jud Wickwire had14airways | Winter 2012www.FlyAWA.org