The Flight of Little Foster ... Yet Another Alabama Success Story!
by Rebecca Harris

Little Foster of Birmingham, Alabama, was born with severe bilateral clubfoot, which means that both of his feet were turned completely the wrong way. This isn't the "pigeon-toed" problem that many of us saw or had in the 60's and 70's, where they put children in braces with the little white shoes.

With severe clubfoot, the soft tissues are all shortened and bones are deformed. Without correction, Foster would be unable to walk, and crippled for life. However, using the Ponseti Method they will be able to gradually move the feet into a normal position using a series of corrective casts and then braces.

Foster's parents took him to Iowa to see the famous Dr. Ponseti himself. Foster got his first casts on when he was just 10 days old.

Before they called Mercy Flight™ Southeast, Foster and his mother, Kim, flew commercially to Iowa and back 6 times. (The casts were changed as often as every 3 to 5 days.) This meant that, even though the appointments were only an hour or so, they had to stay over a number of days to meet the airline restrictions.

Foster's Dad, Michael, had taken all the time he could take off of work to take care of his three other young children. The entire family was frazzled when the treatment went beyond what they had expected. They never knew whether they would need to stay for another cast, or whether they could leave, until they took the latest cast off. Then Kim saw an article about Mercy Flight™ in the Ronald McDonald House where they were staying.

Using Mercy Flight™ Southeast, the family was able to come and go to Iowa on the same day! The pilots who flew them were very enthusiastic about their missions. Since the trip from Birmingham to Iowa is lengthy, Kim and Foster usually had 2 "legs" to fly.

Kim credits Mercy Flight™ Southeast with taking the burden off of their entire family in so many ways, well beyond even the financial relief. Now, with Mercy Flight™ Southeast's help the three other children hardly knew that their mother was gone (after two months of hardly seeing her at all); she was able to go and return on her husband's day off, and did not have to rent a car and pay for a hotel.

"I came back with my sanity intact for the first time in months!" Kim exclaimed. "Mercy Flight™ Southeast  meant sanity for our family!"

Kim evaluated her experience with Mercy Flight™ Southeast in this statement: "The staff who coordinate the flights, and the pilots (and often their employers as well!) who give of their time, equipment and money are truly remarkable. Their interest in helping others is genuine, and their attitudes are all so positive. It encourages those of us who have benefited from their compassion and generosity, to look for ways that we can also use our resources to help others. Mercy Flight™ Southeast  is aptly named!"

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