Wings4Kidz aims to lessen the burden for sick kids

One local family that regularly uses the Wings4Kidz charity to access specialist medical treatment in Sydney, can’t speak highly enough about the service.

Local grandmother, Jodie Jones, has had two of her grandchildren use the service.

Jodie and daughter Amily flew to Sydney last week with Amily’s four year old son Adrian to attend nine specialist appointments at Randwick Children’s Hospital.

Adrian was diagnosed with Hirschsprung disease at three days old and more recently with Mowat-Wilson syndrome.

“When Adrian was a baby we used to go every fortnight and then it got to three months, then six months, then to a year,” Jodie said.

She said the long trips to Sydney by car were hard until they found out about Wings4Kidz by word of mouth from another family at Westmead Hospital.

Wings4Kidz aims to lessen the burden and effect of long-distance travel for children and families by providing a specialist free air and ground transport service, which also helps to keep families together during their difficult journey.

Wings4Kidz have helped lots of families living in regional areas who face significant and difficult challenges in accessing treatment for their children which is only available in major hospitals.

“I want the community to know that they fly out here and they are an amazing service.

“It’s just no stress, no worry and completely free,” Jodie told The Cobar Weekly

“The team picks you up from the airport, drives you to the hospital and picks you up when finished.”

Nathan Parker, a pilot of 12 years, who works for Matt Hall Racing (which supports the Wings4Kidz charity by supplying aircrafts and pilots) brought the Jones family back to Cobar last week after three days of specialists appointments.

“It’s a privilege to be able to assist rural communities through such an awesome initiative like Wings4Kidz,” Nathan said.

“I can imagine it takes a bit of a load off families as well, being able to arrive at the airport and fly into Sydney and not have to worry about driving, or extended time away.

“In some cases we pick people up in the morning, fly them in and then they are back at home at the airport that afternoon,” he said.