Please help me fulfill my wife’s dying request.

Crashnburn

Crashnburn

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Crashnburn
My wife has Creuztfeldt-Jacob Disease. It’s characterized by prions/folded proteins in the brain. It’s terminal, unfortunately, and at best she has a few months to live.

I don’t have a pilot’s license but she went on a few lessons with me years ago. I suspended lessons to take care of her and her parents years ago.

I restarted lessons this past August but put them on hold when she went into the hospital. She’s on home hospice care now.

Tonight she told me, while crying, that she always wanted me to take her flying where everything is so beautiful. And, she apologized for not being able to go. Like any of this was any fault of hers, at all.

She’s not ambulatory, but has a big, strong caregiver, so we could probably get her into a car, and the ideal airplane would be a Cessna Cardinal. The Palo Alto, CA airport is closest to us.

I would be greatly appreciative if some kind soul would be able to give us a ride in his/her Cardinal and let me handle the controls for a few minutes of straight and level flight. (I have over 70 hours of dual given, over 20 years so I don’t think I’m terribly ham-fisted.) And that, I believe would fulfill her dream.

If it’s a rental, I’ll pay the full freight, including Pilot, else our pro-rata share, however you want to figure it.

I’ll have to check with her mother, too.
Thank you, and God Bless.
 
Holy moley! Yes, Spongiform Encephalopathy is lethal, and I am so sorry about your spouse. Prion diseases come from an infectious misfolded protein that can contact normal proteins and cause them to go misfolded. It is phenomenally rare outside of cannibalistic societies, I assume your spouse has a familial form where the prion itself is mutated and more easily takes on the infectious conformation. Also very rare, and likely to affect half the members of her family.

Good luck with your request, i hope someone comes through for you (I'm too far away, or I'd jump at the chance).
 
So sorry to hear this. My husband would have jumped on it but unfortunately we don’t have a plane anymore and he’s not current and we are in Texas. I hope somebody can do it. Being hamfisted should be no issue, our 7 year old was able to maintain straight and level in our Skyhawk.
 
Contact Angel flight in your area, I'm sure there are 50 pilots who would jump to make this happen.

Your wife sounds like a great lady, you are both in my prayers.
 
Thank you all for your suggestions and prayers.
Yes, my wife is a great lady. My sister says she is her favorite sister-in-law, and she has 5 others to choose from. At one point, Tammy, my wife, was wondering if there was a God. I think the proof is that it took a miracle for her to fall in love with a guy like me. (She's brought me a long way, kicking and screaming, from where I was when we met to where I am today. I'm so glad she hung in there with me through the difficult times. I guess it was because she has a brave heart and always tries to see the best side of people.
 
Thoughts and prayers to you and your wife. I wish I knew anyone with a Comanche. I think the Cardinal facebook page may be the best lead, but perhaps the FBO and/or local EAA chapter can help spread the word for a pilot and plane?
 
Rushie said:
So sorry to hear this. My husband would have jumped on it but unfortunately we don’t have a plane anymore and he’s not current and we are in Texas. I hope somebody can do it. Being hamfisted should be no issue, our 7 year old was able to maintain straight and level in our Skyhawk.
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@Crashnburn , this^^^^? I think many planes would be suitable. Having a CFI as the other pilot up front would open up a lot of possibilities. Blue skies and tailwinds to your extraordinary wife
 
Thank very much. Good thing my phone is water proof!

Unfortunately, my mother in law doesn’t think she’s up to it anymore.

I’m not ham-fisted. Until I suspended flying lessons to help with my wife, I was in the pattern flying an Evektor Sportstar. My biggest challenge was judging height to round out at.
 
By the way, Crashnburn, I am so sorry for your and your wife's situation. It is heartbreaking and you are wonderful for trying to fulfill her dreams.
 
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