If this is your first visit, be sure to check out the FAQ by clicking the link above. You may have to register before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages, select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below. |
|
|
Thread Tools | Display Modes |
#1
|
|||
|
|||
Capt. Al Haynes-Hero of United DC-10 Crash in Sioux City Needs Help
After 15 years, the survivors of United Airlines Flight 232 have found a way to
repay pilot Al Haynes: by pitching in for his daughter's bone marrow transplant. Al Haynes and his daughter Laurie Arguello await her bone-marrow transplant. By Ken Lambert, The Seattle Times Haynes helped guide the DC-10 into the Sioux City, Iowa, airport 45 minutes after its center engine exploded on July 19, 1989, saving 184 of the 296 people on board. When many of the survivors heard that his daughter, SeaTac resident Laurie Arguello, was struggling to raise the money for a bone-marrow transplant and follow-up care, they rushed to help out. So did many other people. About 2,500 have contributed online, and Arguello has a big shoebox filled with notes sent by donors. In all, she's collected more than $256,000. "I read a letter from someone whose friend didn't survive Flight 232," she told The Seattle Times. "They made a donation in that person's name, which made me cry." Arguello, 39, was diagnosed in December 2001 with aplastic anemia, a condition in which her bone marrow cannot produce enough blood cells. Word of her illness traveled fast, starting with a humble solicitation letter Haynes sent friends late last fall and spreading through national and local media coverage. Survivors said they wanted to help not just because of what Haynes and his crew did in the cockpit that day, but because of the support he provided afterward. "He has always had time for anyone connected with the crash," said Jerry Schemmel, a survivor who has gone on to become the radio announcer for the NBA's Denver Nuggets. "I've become more impressed with the man that he has become since the crash than the man he was in the cockpit that day." Many of the donations have come from those in the airline industry who regard Haynes' calm leadership in the cockpit as an act of heroism, although he has always demurred from such a characterization. "My definition of a hero is someone who voluntarily puts his or her life in jeopardy to benefit other people," said Haynes, 72. "There's no way that we voluntarily put ourselves in jeopardy. We just did our job and tried to get people on the ground." Arguello, who is married and has a 9-year-old son, has two potential bone-marrow donors lined up, both strangers. A transplant could take place this spring. "Whoever is her donor, now there's a hero," Haynes said. "That person is voluntarily doing something to save a life. Donors aren't necessarily putting themselves in jeopardy, but they could be." The $256,000 that Arguello set as her fund-raising goal covers the transplant and aftercare, but assumes an unlikely scenario that no complications will arise. As a result, she continues to raise money. Before she became ill, Arguello was working as a customer-service representative for a janitorial-services company. She has undergone more than 60 blood or platelet transfusions, but doctors say her best hope is a bone-marrow transplant. Her medical insurance is paying $100,000 toward a transplant, but she has to cover the minimum balance of $156,000, plus another $100,000 for aftercare. Arguello registered with the National Foundation for Transplants, which represents more than 500 patients across the country who are raising money for transplants. If any of the rtc members care to help (I did), you can donate at http://www.transplants.org/ |
#2
|
|||
|
|||
Capt. Al Haynes-Hero of United DC-10 Crash in Sioux City Needs...
I hope they raise enough so she no longer must reside at the airport.
|
#3
|
|||
|
|||
Capt. Al Haynes-Hero of United DC-10 Crash in Sioux City Needs...
I thought Capt. Haynes died years ago! Or am I thinking of that TWA
pilot that had his plane taken on several unscheduled stops in the Middle East? |
#4
|
|||
|
|||
Capt. Al Haynes-Hero of United DC-10 Crash in Sioux City Needs ...
|
Thread Tools | |
Display Modes | |
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
United Reinstates Nonstop Service Between Chicago and Honolulu | james_anatidae | Air travel | 0 | February 23rd, 2004 08:16 PM |
UA, F9, City of Denver reach aggreement for gates at DEN | Thomas Smith | Air travel | 1 | November 11th, 2003 10:13 PM |