Meridian, the award-winning private aviation company based at Teterboro Airport, is proud to be part of a new milestone for the Corporate Angel Network (CAN), which flew its 48,000th cancer patient on June 11, 2015. Onboard was 48 year old colon cancer patient James Etherton accompanied by his wife Tammy. A Cessna Citation belonging to Blue Beacon International, Inc., flew them from treatment at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York City to their home in Mechanicsburg Illinois. Teterboro Airport is a major business aviation airport located only a few miles from New York City.
“Tammy and I would like to express our appreciation to Corporate Angel Network and Blue Beacon for being so generous” said Jim Etherton. “Once a month I need to fly to New York for treatment. The fact that they were able to alleviate the financial burden and stress of flying commercial will never be forgotten”, Etherton continued. “Getting diagnosed with cancer is a life changing experience. The silver lining to that cloud, however, is that we have come to realize how many great people there are out there willing to help in our time of need. It makes me want to beat this that much more so that one day I can do the same for others!”
Blue Beacon International, a CAN participating company since 1992, also flew the Etherton’s to treatment on June 6, 2015. “It was a good feeling to be able to help someone while doing my daily duties” said pilot Bill Breitenbach. “I know Blue Beacon was happy to assist in achieving this impressive milestone and we hope to do even more flights to help meet the next milestone”.
Corporate Angel Network is the only charitable organization in the United States whose sole mission is to help cancer patients access the best possible treatment for their specific type of cancer by arranging free travel to treatment across the country using empty seats on corporate jets. This not only improves the patients’ chances of survival but at the same time, it reduces their emotional stress, physical discomfort and financial burden. For more information about the amazing work they do, please visit their website at https://www.corpangelnetwork.org/
CAN is the designated charity for NBAA, which hosts an annual event that raises hundreds of thousands of dollars each year to support CAN’s humanitarian mission.