Please take a moment to read about Raya’s healthcare journey to treat a rare form of brain cancer that she was diagnosed with this past spring requiring her to travel from Frenchville, ME to Boston, MA for specialized care and treatment.

When 21-year-old Raya was not feeling well, she visited her local doctor and after several tests, she was diagnosed with a rare form of brain cancer. Her medical team in Maine explained to her and her family that she needed to have specialized proton treatments to combat her specific form of brain cancer. The best resource for this specialized treatment was at Massachusetts General Hospital  which was over 430 miles away requiring a 7 to 8 hour drive each way and is only administered during appointments held Monday thru Friday.  Given she would need someone to accompany her like her mom, who is a self-employed hairdresser, Raya could not afford to not only travel that distance but also have her mom be away from her hair salon that long.

She learned about Angel Flight NE from a friend who highly recommended she reach out to our mission/flight coordination team for assistance. Since her first call on June 7th, our mission/flight coordinators have scheduled more than 10 flights of healing and hope with the help of our volunteer pilots along with generous support of the Alexion Charitable Foundation and Maine Cancer Foundation. Raya has been able to receive life-saving treatment while her mother has been able to accompany her during this healthcare journey. With Angel Flight NE’s help, her mother can continue to maintain her beauty salon and also not worry about having to transport Raya 7 to 8 hours each way to receive the treatment she needs to combat her rare form of brain cancer.

Her mother, Natalie, sent us a beautiful note recently:  
“When my daughter Raya was diagnosed with a brain tumor and needed Proton Therapy in Boston, we worried how we would get her there especially given they are administered Monday thru Friday. We wanted to keep life as normal as possible for her while receiving treatments. Driving back and forth from Northern Maine to Boston, MA every weekend so that we could go home and work would have been extremely exhausting and not to mention expensive so that is when we got in touch with Angel Flight NE!!!..We cannot express the gratitude we feel for this wonderful organization…and for the awesome pilots and earth angels that have donated their time and planes along with the earth angels who donate their cars for ground transportation. And to the supporters and foundation grants who make this amazing mission possible. It has helped so much during a difficult time and alleviated some of our stress! These past 6 weeks have gone by much quicker because we have been able to go home!! …Raya and I (Natalie) cannot thank you enough!!..it is humbling to see such beautiful acts of kindness and generosity!…forever grateful!”

We are able to transform patients’ lives – like Raya’s –  who need to access life-saving medical care with the amazing support of our compassionate, giving volunteer pilots along with the generous support and grants from organizations like The Alexion Charitable Foundation and the Maine Cancer Foundation.

And support of individuals, like you, is also vital to ensuring distance is never an obstacle for patients and families in need.

Together we are making the “Impossible, Possible” for patients and families in need of accessing life-saving medical care.

As with all of our patients, Nanette and her family will always have a place in our heart and will remain a part of the Angel Flight NE extended family. We assured her that we are here during her healthcare journey for as long and as often as she needs our assistance to access the vital care and treatment she needs to battle her rare cancer and continued healthcare crisis.

Mission/Flight requests – like Raya’s – happen daily and we are privileged to have the opportunity to not only fly but deeply care for all who turn to us for help at difficult times in their lives.  We are here for her for as long and as often as she needs our help and to ensure the best possible outcome. Please keep Raya and her family along with all of our patients in your thoughts and prayers.

We are proudly celebrating our 27th year of service having scheduled over 108,000 flights for patients who have traveled  more than 15 million miles to 750+ medical facilities throughout the United States since our founding in 1996.

Thank You and God Bless You for your support and belief in our healing mission.

With your help, we can ensure that distance is never an obstacle for patients, like Aliana and the thousands of others we assist yearly.

Warmest regards,
Fr. Larry & the AFNE Staff