An alumnus shares a story of hope from his volunteer work.
“I’ll never forget my first angel flight. We’re a group of volunteer pilots who fly medical patients. Ricky was 18 and weighed 90 pounds. I flew him from Gainesville back to his home in Melbourne, Florida, after chemo. As we climbed above the clouds, Ricky’s face lit up. He said, ‘When I beat this cancer, I want to fly.’ When I learned he’d passed away, I was heartbroken—but then I realized I made him smile. That meant a lot to me. Recently, I flew a kid with a cranial disorder. When we landed next to a big jet, he said, ‘One day I want to fly that.’ I smiled and said, ‘I hope you do.’ ”
— Dr. John C. Leavitt ’12 (right) is a DBA graduate and deputy managing director of the ITSS Contract for Technik Inc., at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida.
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