IT wasn’t until Milperra’s Allen Hilton had his own sick daughter that he and wife Lynette realised how lucky they were living in Sydney with easy access to the best medical treatment.
So the retired building contractor and avid recreational pilot decided to put his Cessna 177 aircraft to good use and become a volunteer with Angel Flight.
A well known charity providing free flights to country people needing to attend city medical appointments with a branch based at Bankstown Airport, Angel Flight reached a major milestone on November 2, clocking up 20 million kilometres helping the sick.
Celebrating another milestone, Allen completed his 300th flight last Tuesday after 14 years as a volunteer pilot – leaving Bankstown at 7.30am, picking up a patient at Mallacoota, near Bass Strait and flying her to Canberra for treatment before returning home just after lunch.
It’s all in a day’s work and Allen, 71, said the patients make it worthwhile.
“It used to take a mother and son, up to 11 hours to get from Merimbula to Royal Far West at Manly via train, bus and ferry but through Angel Flight, I was able to reduce that trip to under three hours,” he said.
“The mother was very thankful.
“Of course, they don’t all have happy endings.
“One mother had just had a double mastectomy and was travelling with her son who’d recovered from leukaemia but then diagnosed with a brain tumour; she had another daughter who was a paraplegic after a horse-riding accident. The son passed away at 19.
“Some families are dealt bad cards but it’s great knowing we can help.”
A former marathon runner and keen fisherman, Allen has no plans to quit anytime soon.
“Angel Flight refunds the cost of my fuel which covers about a third of my expenses but I am luckily in a position where I can afford to keep going and helping as many families as possible.”
