SEATTLE — Help is coming from the skies for sick children in western Washington.
A new way to get to and from Seattle Children's Hospital is taking flight — promising to cut travel times and add a bit of joy to an otherwise stressful situation.
Seattle Children's treats about 3,000 kids every year. Many of them travel from hours away.
Their fight for wellness often combines with a fight through traffic. Now, some will be able to bypass the hassle directly at no cost to families.
When Corky Frady sees a seaplane flying over Lake Washington, his heart soars.
"My butterflies have butterflies!" He exclaims.
Frady works with an organization called Angel Flight West which transports sick kids to places like Seattle Children's through the air via Boeing Field or Renton.
Now, they're taking their trips from the sky to the sea.
Patients from the North Sound and parts of the Olympic Peninsula will soon be flown by float plane to the shores of Lake Washington.
They'll meet with folks like Frady who will drive them the short distance to the hospital.
"It's a lot more comfortable for a child and parents to ride in the comfort of a plane rather than sitting in the backseat of a car, fighting your way up I5," said Frady. "After spending one day or three days in the hospital, for the youngster to be able to come down here and fly from Lake Washington to home is incredible."
The volunteer pilots brought PPE to cut off Northwest communities like Point Roberts during the pandemic. They routinely prep for disaster relief in case of an earthquake.
Frady said he believes the seaplanes will allow volunteers to double the number of kids they bring to Children's every year from 50 to 100.
To him, there is little the dedicated team can't do.
"The only thing we can't offer them is a stop at McDonald's," says Frady. He jokes, but childhood cancer is very close to his heart.
His sister died from bone cancer when they were growing up.
"She was 17 and she was my best friend," Frady said, his normally animated voice growing solemn. "I have always wanted to be in a position where I can do something for kids like this."
For Frady, the program will help the healing process, both physically and emotionally, until there are bluer skies ahead.
"It's a lifetime experience they'll never forget," he says.
To schedule a flight contact Seattle Children's or Angel Flight West.