Stacey Allen, Mark Berger and Ron Morgan, MedFlight

Located in a room on 10 South, an elderly patient named Catherine routinely observed from her window the takeoffs and landings of Memorial MedFlight. Confined to her room, Catherine looked forward to the coming and going of the helicopter service – so much so she expressed an interest in meeting the MedFlight crew. Just as soon as this request was relayed to Ken Nemes, MedFlight Outreach Transport Coordinator, he contacted the staff at the MedFlight base at South Bend Regional Airport to determine their availability. MedFlight was scheduled to perform an equipment check at the hospital that very day, so without hesitation, the crew of Ron Morgan, pilot, Mark Berger, flight medic, and Stacey Allen, flight nurse, agreed to visit Catherine.

They spent more than 30 minutes with Catherine, giving her a flight pin and having their picture taken with her. Crew members were thrilled with the opportunity to deliver a small dose of joy to a patient.

“It just made you feel good,” says Ron. “We are in the people business. And any request we get like that, we are excited to do it.”

“To have been a part of making this happen for this patient, it renewed the dedication and commitment to my profession,” says Stacey. “To be able to participate in something that was, essentially, effortless and being able to see the joy on Catherine’s face was truly an honor for me.”