My grandfather and l came to Texas to visit his mother who is 89, on March 5th. We were on our way to Houston airport to go home on March 20th and he had respitory failure and was immediately put on a ventilator. Since then the DRs have tried to ween him off. It has been determined his will be vent dependent. The problem is he wants to go home and the cost is $16,000. Thru the past 3 1/2 months I've been here with him our funds are exahuasted and we do not have the money. l am now researching charitable organizations and I am not getting anywhere. If we can not get him home he wants us to pull the plug and let him die...but if we can get him home he wants to live. So l am in a desparate situation and praying for a miracle. If there is anything anybody can think of or recommend, please do once again I am desparate and he is stranded.

He only wants to live if he is in Pennsylvania? l feel for ur situation, but that sounds a bit strange. He can only fly on an airliner if he is able to sit up & put on a seat belt. He also cannot be on a ventilator. They do have charity flights for kids with cancer & such, but they r private planes & not air ambulances. l believe u need an actual air ambulance for this type of flight, & it is very costly. Perhaps if the doctor can come up with a reason that he has to be transferred back to PA, the insurance can pay for the trip.

l would try to convince him that it is up to him to want to live, & if he starts getting better he can get back home much easier. Either way he will be in a hospital, if he can not get off the ventilator. Hope that helps you.

you should look into lifeline pilots association.. it is a non-profit org. that does flights for ppl that have transport issues due to medical issues. now, l do not think they will fly him if he is on ALS, and TX to PA would probably be a two to three volunteer trip.. but look into it. lifeline pilots.

Kissthepilot: l personally flew a stretcher patient from Florida to California for connection to an Australia-bound Qantas flight, after going to Florida empty for the pick-up. So, l know at least Qantas allows strectcher patients. Here is a link to Alaska Airlines stretcher patient policy:
http://alaskaair.com/as/www2/company/tariff/canada/tariff_canada_section7.asp
Obviously, a ventilator is much more than just a stretcher. But just wanted to make the point that stretchers r allowed on airlines with advance notice, etc.
The only medical transport l have done has been revenue & very costly. So, l can offer nothing more than the others have suggested.

You need to contact the medicaid/medicare counsler at the hospital where he was seen. If he has medicare, or any insurance, he has a right to ''medical repatriation to his area of residence of record''. In other words, if he lives in PA (and is a legal residence of the state), his insurance will have to cover at least part of the bill.

Check with the hospital and doctors, and call some air-medical companies. They will be able to walk you through the process. Good luck!!!

Here is another one u might try:
http://angelflight.com/patients.asp

l think it is going to be difficult with the ventilator equipment. However, l am sure there is some solution out there. It will just be a matter of finding it. There must be some other organizations that provide transportation by air or ground. Keep looking & u will find it!

Good luck!

(Added):
l did a search for long distance medical transport:
http://google.com/search?complete=1&hl=en&q=long+distance+medical+transport&btnG=Search&aq=f
And long distance medical transport+charity:
http://google.com/search?complete=1&hl=en&q=long+distance+medical+transport+charity&btnG=Search&aq=f

If u get creative enough with the searches, u may find something that suits ur needs. You might also try contacting some of these programs. Even if they can not help you, maybe they can refer u to someone who can.

Here is another one similar to Angel Flight:
http://mercymedical.org/

http://mercymedical.org/programs.html

http://patientTravel.org/