Toddler Receives a Free Flight to Doctor on the Wings of Strangers
Caleb Nord, not even two years old, has a very rare disease (FHL-V) and there are only 5 doctors in the world who know how to treat this rare disorder that attacks Caleb’s white blood cells.
Caleb, along with his mother Ann Nord, needed to get to a specialist from White Bear, MN to Cincinnati, Ohio, but Caleb couldn’t fly regular airlines since his immune system wasn’t strong enough. With just a couple conversations with people in his hometown, a carwash fundraiser for Caleb and an ad in the local newspaper, Caleb and his mother received the ride they needed to Cincinnati.
How much would you help a little boy who is struggling to survive to meet his medical needs?
Read Caleb’s story on CaringBridge.com, a non-profit site that offers families a place to keep a journal for friends and family about their children’s health problems.
Sign Caleb Nord’s guestbook and leave him a message too.
God Bless Caleb we greatly admire your strong spirit and determination to fight this rare disorder!
Caleb is undergoing chemotherapy and being treated with steroids and antibiotics. He needs a bone marrow transplant. Only five physicians in the world specialize in the disorder. One of those is Dr. Alexandra Filipovich of the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center. Doctors at St. Paul Children’s Hospital want Caleb and his parents, Jeremy and Ann Nord, to see Filipovich, who sent an e-mail to his friend Bill King, vice president of business administration for Cirrus. A few more e-mails and phone calls, and it was arranged: Instead of going Delta, the Nords will take a Cirrus plane flown by a commercially licensed Cirrus pilot from St. Paul to Cincinnati on Tuesday, returning either Tuesday or Wednesday, depending on how long they need to be in the hospital. King’s call caught her by surprise, Ann Nord said. “I had no idea that anyone had contacted him,” she said. “I get this call and the kids are screaming and running around, and I ended up calling him back. He told me everything, and I just cried.” King said everyone at Cirrus from the top down wanted to help. ” Gary Doty noted how everything came together: a visit to Duluth, an ad in the paper, a casual conversation at a carwash, a couple of people connecting with a couple of other people.
