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Capt. Al Haynes-Hero of United DC-10 Crash in Sioux City Needs Help



 
 
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  #1  
Old March 22nd, 2004, 04:17 AM
BFSON
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Default 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  
Old March 22nd, 2004, 07:02 PM
Greg Johnson
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Default 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  
Old March 22nd, 2004, 11:27 PM
maryanne kehoe
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Default 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?

 




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