Unless you live in Australia it’s difficult to comprehend just how big it is. An image of its coastline superimposed over Europe will see Darwin located in Norway, Perth in Portugal, and Tasmania in Egypt.
NSW, Australia’s most populated state is slightly bigger than Texas and 3 times bigger than the UK. It’s home to 8.166 million people, 5.3 million of whom live in Sydney. Which means the 2,866,000 million who live elsewhere often find themselves far from services city folk take for granted. Like hospitals for example.
This can make life for families, especially those with young children extra difficult when the unthinkable happens and those young children have an accident or are diagnosed with a serious illness. Help can often be a life-threatening distance away.
Which is where Little Wings steps in. Or more precisely, flies in.
Little Wings is a non-profit organisation that provides free, professional, and safe flight and ground transport services for seriously ill children in rural and regional NSW. It started by enabling kids with cancer to access the superb medical services offered by The Children’s Hospital in Westmead, Sydney. Since then, the Little Wings team has worked hard to extend their services to include The Sydney Children’s Hospital, The Royal Far West Hospital in Manly and the John Hunter Children’s hospital in Newcastle.
Now they have grown to support children with serious illnesses across all domains from the physical to the psychological.
It means that kid’s living in country towns or on far flung rural properties can access lifesaving services that might otherwise be beyond their reach.
Charles was just two when he was diagnosed with Acute Lymphocytic Leukaemia. He lives in Dubbo which is 390 kilometers from the lifesaving facilities offered by Westmead Children’s Hospital. Within 24 hours of diagnosis Charles was transported by Little Wings to Sydney for what turned out to be 104 weeks of active treatments including 20 surgical procedures and endless tests. At one point his medical team and consequently his family was running out of hope. But Charlie’s inbuilt determination and strength of character pulled him through.
His mum, when asked about Little Wings said, “We have many trips ahead of us … for check ups and future surgeries for Charlie but every Little Wing’s flight removes the pressure and the stress of a six hour drive. It is an hour of gliding through the air, allowing us to breath, reflect and hit pause on Charlie’s intense treatment schedule. We are forever grateful for the support and care of our Charlie and our entire family.” Little Wings is committed to assisting Charlie and his family for as long as it takes.
Catherine was born in Vanuatu with congenital heart disease. To save her life she required immediate open heart surgery. This was delivered by the incredible team at Westmead. To access the ongoing treatment Catherine needed to thrive she and her mum migrated to Australia and settled in regional Griffith which is 477 kilometres from Sydney.
Collinet, Catherine’s mum explained that it was initially very difficult leaving her husband and family but today she is just grateful. Since the initial heart surgery Catherine and Collinet have had to travel back and forth from Griffith to Sydney regularly. Little Wings has been there to assist with every journey.
“It’s the little details, the care kits, lending us a pram to get around the hospital, the water, and cookies on the plane …. that make such a difference and make us feel cared for during the tough times, we are so grateful, thank you.”
Little Wings isn’t trying to do everything. They can’t. But they are doing something. Perhaps those of you who have already reached fifty plus might want to help them help those who mostly haven’t even reached 15 plus as yet.
Henley is very young. He lives in Wagga Wagga, 460 kilometres from Sydney. He has a rare genetic disorder called, Mucopolysaccharidoses (MPS). It means his body doesn’t produce an enzyme to break down large sugar molecules. This impacts his heart, lungs, brain, and connective tissue.
His chances of reaching adulthood are low. To help prolong his life and improve its quality his big brother Darcy who is three, became his bone marrow donor. During Covid Henley and his family travelled weekly to Sydney with Little Wings to prepare for surgery.
The road ahead for Henley is a rough one. Following his surgery he continues to fly with Little Wings every fortnight to access specialist treatment at Westmead Children’s Hospital. But the family is together and when small medical wins happen for Henley, they can celebrate together. As his mum puts it, “Little Wings have been the service that supported us without expectation, welcomed us with warmth and have become a critical part of our journey in seeing Henley to health and happiness.”
With life you never know what’s around the next corner. As one young mother of a particularly ill child explained to Thrive, “You receive the diagnosis and your whole world changes. The things that were priorities like getting them to school and to sports and making sure their cloths are clean and their hair is combed … that all goes out the window. The hospital becomes the centre of your existence. The endless doctors’ appointments and the anxious waits for test results is what is always on your mind. And the worry.”
To date Little Wings has flown over 430 missions. In 2021 it flew 581,598 kilometres. It has 4 partner hospitals, 2 hangars, 3 Baron planes and 48 volunteers.
But what it achieves can’t really be measured or valued. Our children are the future. We must do all we can to ensure they get there.
