First Airplane Ride for New Mother and Daughter is an Mercy Flight™ Southeast mission!
———By Becky Harris
Greater Birmingham Community Rep
Mercy Flight™ Southeast Alabama Wing

First-time mother Megan was really in a dilemma. After giving birth to a beautiful baby girl, Emma, who seemed perfectly healthy, she received a phone call from Dr Rutledge at the Sparks Research Clinic in Birmingham, Alabama, telling her that Emma had Phenylketinurih, PKU.

In its "classic" form, PKU is a rare, inherited metabolic disease that results in mental retardation and other neurological problems when treatment is not started within the first few weeks of life. When a very strict diet is begun early and well-maintained, effected children can expect normal development and a normal life span.

"Don't even get on the Internet and look it up because it will scare you to death," Dr Rutledge said and then explained that Emma would need to be on a special formula and have her blood levels checked once a week.

Further, Emma would need to make a trip to Birmingham every two months to see Dr Rutledge. Her development needed to be carefully monitored by medical professionals who specialized in PKU.

Megan was very grateful for Dr Rutledge's reassuring words that with careful monitoring of Emma's blood levels and diet that Emma would grow and develop without any long term problems. However, Megan and Emma live in Fairhope, Alabama, which is a 5 or 6-hour car drive from Birmingham - a regular drive like that with a small baby seemed overwhelming.

That's when Megan realized, she needed help.

Through a social worker, Mrs Dreama, who made the initial contact with Mercy Flight™ Southeast  for her, Megan learned about Mercy Flight™ Southeast.

Megan was relieved and thankful to know that such a wonderful, absolutely free service existed, but she was apprehensive because she had never flown in an airplane before. Her apprehensions were alleviated somewhat when the pilot of Emma's mission, Paul Eskridge, called her a few days before the flight took place to introduce himself, tell her that he would meet her in Fairhope, and gave her directions to the small airport.

During the flight, which was very smooth, Paul explained to Megan exactly what he was doing and Emma slept peacefully. The pilot asked Megan periodically how Emma was doing.

Mother and daughter were picked up from the Birmingham Jet South airport by Kid One transport system and taken to the Sparks Clinic for Emma's appointment. The pilot waited for them at the airport and flew them safely back to Fairhope after the appointment was over.

"What a blessing," said Megan, to have the whole process completed in the time it would take just to drive to Birmingham from Fairhope.

Mercy Flight™ Southeast will be flying Emma and her mother to Birmingham every two months until she is at least a year old and depending on her progress, every 3 to 6 months for several years after that.

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