Gift of a free flight helps restore boy’s vision
Innovative Air Canada Aeroplan charity program gives families access to out-of-country health care
For most people, travel reward miles mean the chance to get discounted or free flights, hotel stays or other perks. For 10-year-old Shane Avila, they helped him see again. When he was 21 months old, Shane developed a life-threatening skin condition called StevensJohnson syndrome, which left his eyesight significantly impaired. Many of the drugs he needs aren’t covered by insurance. His mother, Elizabeth Avila, stays home to care for him while his father works two jobs to meet their expenses.
Three years ago, thanks to a gift of tens of thousands of Aeroplan Miles from an innovative charity, Shane and his mother were able to fly for free to a clinic in Boston to get specialized prosthetic lenses to improve his vision.
“My husband and I were crying when we found out. We’re so thankful, because the cost would have been too much for us,” Avila says.
The East York family received two free return flights to Boston — they took a second trip in 2011for followup care — courtesy of the Air Canada Foundation’s Hospital Transportation Program, which provides Aeroplan miles to 15 pediatric hospitals in Canada.
The hospitals — in the Avilas’ case, The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto — provide the miles to families who need help meeting the cost of travelling outside their communities to access medical treatments.
The miles are made available through donations from Aeroplan collectors, who can contribute them to the foundation, or to several other charities, at www.aeroplan.com/donate. Since Aeroplan introduced its charitable giving option, called Beyond Miles, in late 2004, more than 230 million miles have been donated to charities by more than 1,500 collectors.
Last year, 11 million miles were used by families through the Hospital Transportation Program, and the year before that, 14 million. Each year, those miles help facilitate hundreds of free Air Canada flights for families.
“I told Shane that there are so many good people in the world. Those miles were a real gift.” ELIZABETH AVILA
“The same way people donate money or time to their communities or to charities, they can use their miles to help other people,” says Alden Hadwen, director of community engagement at Aeroplan. Among those who have donated to the Hospital Transportation Program is Shelley Coolidge, who last January found herself in the middle of a family crisis at a hospital in Saskatchewan. The Ottawa woman had flown out West after learning her six-year-old nephew had been diagnosed with Duchenne muscular dystrophy. While at the hospital, she noticed many other families coping with their children’s health challenges and wondered if she could help.
“I realized how fortunate I was to be in a place financially that if and when needed I could book a flight to be with my family. I thought that a lot of other people dealing with a medical problem could probably use some help,” says Coolidge, who donated 30,000 of her Aeroplan Miles to the program. The help Shane received through the program has changed his life. Before, he mostly avoided the outdoors because his eyes were too sensitive to the sun and wind. Today, with his prosthetic lenses, Shane can be outside as much as he wants, which means enjoying recess at school and spending more time playing with friends.
“When Shane got the lenses, he was so happy. He was running around outside the clinic, so excited to be outdoors,” Avila says. “I told Shane that there are so many good people in the world. Those miles were a real gift.”