Two-year-old Justin Oliver is a really special kid. Like a lot of toddlers, he gets joy from doing simple things: running around in his yard, playing with his family, and even counting and repeating new words and phrases. In fact, you'd never know that at one point, all of these activities felt like things Justin would never get to experience. Justin was in the hospital following a double-lung transplant this time last year, and it turns out he was in for the literal fight of his life.
Justin's mom, Ericka Easterling, shared the scarier details of the experience. "He was on life support for 97 days, in intensive care for 107 days." Happily, after all of that, Justin is a total typical toddler. She continued, "After all the suffering he's been through, he's a normal 2-year-old. He loves to run around. He's super excited about Halloween. He likes the scary stuff!"
Now, Justin travels to Houston every few months for follow-up appointments. Any parent who has accompanied a child to endless appointments can tell you how exhausting (and expensive) the ordeal can be. Luckily, all of Justin's trips are completely covered by Miracle Flights.
Justin's mom first noticed her son was having trouble breathing when he was only 3 weeks old. She took him into the doctor, and the baby boy was subjected to rounds of appointments, X-rays, and ER visits. No one had any answers for Ericka and Justin for over a year.
When Justin was 15 months old, he came down with an illness and ended up going into respiratory failure. He was flown to the Texas Children's Hospital in Houston, and Ericka was told he only had two days to live. Doctors at the hospital diagnosed Justin with pulmonary veno-occlusive disease and placed him on the waiting list to receive a pair of lungs.
Justin managed to hold on for three months, and eventually, his doctors received a phone call confirming that lungs were available for him. He underwent surgery in August 2019.
Justin's family was connected with Miracle Flights, a medical charity that provides financial assistance to families who have to travel extensive distances to receive care. Justin and his mom live in Charlotte, North Carolina, so flying to Houston regularly wouldn't be easy to pull off otherwise.
Miracle Flights began in 1985 under the name Angel Plane. At first, the organization only flew regionally, and in 1996 they changed its name to Miracle Flights for Kids. Miracle Flights was coordinating national flights for kids and adults by 2005, and has continued the work ever since.
The organization's social media feeds are filled with stories of the children and adults that they've been able to help. Jayse is one of those kids:
Meet Jayse! He is an adorable 1 year old on his very first flight EVER! It is also his very FIRST Miracle Flight. Jayse was born with clubfoot. He lives in MO and has to travel to West Palm Beach, FL for specialized medical care. This may be his first flight but it will not be his last. His mother, Kylee, took these precious photos in the airport this morning.
Donovan is another child who has benefited from Miracle Flights for the last three years:
Donovan was born with spina bifida myelomeningocele, chiari II malformation, hydrocephalus and bilateral clubfoot. His casting for clubfoot began just after he went home from the NICU at 3 weeks old. Donavan had casts weekly for 5 weeks along with a tenotomy then casts for 3 weeks then switched to boots & bar brace which is a 4 year process. During his clubfoot treatment Donovan’s family felt something wasn’t right, his casts slipped and had to be redone several times, things just felt wrong… Donovans mom started to research doctors and clubfoot and found Dr. Matthew Dobbs in Saint Louis, MO… his staff informed her of Miracle Flights to get there and restart his treatment, it was very successful and has been flying now for follow ups and trips for nearly 3 years!
It's really hard to overstate the incredible work that the organization does. Being able to give patients and their caregivers flights to appointments is really powerful; Miracle Flights is literally saving lives. Justin's mom echoed this sentiment when she said, "Miracle Flights — you've got the name right. It is a miracle."
She pointed out that making his appointments in Houston would be impossible otherwise. "If I didn't have Miracle Flights, when it came time for his checkup, I couldn't do it."
Now, Justin and Ericka will be able to travel to Houston again later this month.
Justin's mom isn't the only caregiver who appreciates the opportunities that Miracle Flights has given their kids — all of them do.
Thank you Miracle Flights for helping K get to her much needed appt and procedure in Boston. You all have been amazing to our family and helping her get the treatment she needs. This last procedure was to help her get better so she could start college on a good note. I’m happy to say it helped a lot and she is enjoying the start to her freshman year.
Miracle Flights is also able to operate during the health crisis, which is especially helpful for patients and their families. The organization supplies N95 masks to its travelers, and is regularly taking donations of masks and funds.
If you want to donate so Miracle Flights can continue their amazing work, you can find out how to right here.
