Helping patients reach vital care as a Volunteer Pilot and donor

Helping patients reach vital care as a Volunteer Pilot and donor

Floyd Hill was already a seasoned Hope Air Volunteer Pilot when he joined the Give Hope Wings expedition, the largest volunteer-driven fundraiser in Hope Air history. The fundraising came naturally—just talking passionately to his network about the expedition was enough for Hill to motivate many generous people to donate. It was a fantastic way to raise awareness about the issues some people face when it comes to accessing healthcare. And Hill was able to use his first-hand perspective as a Volunteer Pilot to illuminate the issue. While he wasn’t able to join the squadron in flight in 2022, Floyd made sure to continue his personal support of Hope Air and still challenged his network to do the same. Last year, Floyd made the first donation to our Seat of Hope campaign which encouraged individual donors to make a gift of $5,000 or more to fund flights to medical care. The effort raised more than $125,000 overall.

“I’ve been very fortunate in my life, and it is nice to give back. I fly patients during tough times—people with serious illnesses, sometimes little kids. If they had to figure out how to pay for an airline ticket and a hotel it would be that much harder,” Floyd goes on to say, “You see the difference it makes when they have someone they trust to get them to where they need to be. Hope Air really fills a great void.”
Roger and his wife Susie are from Northern Ontario, a nearly thirteen-hour drive from the hospital Roger would have to reach for his compartment syndrome surgery in Hamilton, Ontario. Roger lives near Kapuskasing, Ontario, with his wife Susie. His symptoms first began 15 years ago, with intense pressure and pain in his legs and arms that was accompanied by swelling.

After visiting several doctors near his home and in Thunder Bay, Roger was diagnosed with compartment syndrome, a condition where his muscles expanded as if he had done strenuous exercise. Compartment syndrome is a rare condition where, untreated, causes nerve damage, amputation, loss of muscle function, and kidney failure, among other consequences. Doctors did not know what caused Roger’s condition, but knew that it needed urgent medical intervention.

We acknowledge that we live and work on the unceded, traditional territories of many Indigenous peoples. We are grateful for the privilege of being on lands that these peoples have nurtured since time immemorial.