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7-year-old patient gets ride of his life

Posted: Jun 30, 2010 11:21 PM EDT

By Stefano DiPietrantonio –
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CINCINNATI, OH (FOX19) - A little boy who until this year has rarely been able to leave Cincinnati Children's Hospital, had an incredible day Wednesday.

His name is Manny Evans. A lot of people helped him reach for the sky, even when most days, he may not have felt like getting out of his hospital bed.

The 7-year-old doesn't get out much.

"Here we go!" said his caregiver Becky Coffman. "It's nice out!" as they approached the hospital's helipad.

Manny has lived at Children's Hospital most of his young life, battling a respiratory illness. But Wednesday, he got a sweet surprise and lived like a rock star, complete with his "entourage". Manny's a shy guy, but managed to get a quick fist bump in before take-off.

It was a beautiful day to fly in a helicopter.

Little Manny is under constant care with a team of nurses and doctors at Children's Hospital, so it was no small feat to get him, his respirator, and his caregivers all together in one helicopter. And, once all of his gear and people weighed-in, "He said, is it ok weight, is it right?" said Denise Shanks, an RN at Children's. "I said, 'yeah, it's ok Manny,'" whom she said was worried the trip might be canceled if the weight limit was exceeded.

He was all smiles, taking a quick picture with Coffman in the back seat of the helicopter before liftoff. Then, it was straight up for a birds-eye view of Kings Island, where he's going next week. The helicopter flew back down I-71 before landing in a field at Sharon Woods for a picnic.

"Ready to get out?" Coffman asked Manny as they clamored to get out of the copter. Normally, he's taken around by ambulance and once both feet were on the ground, he was eager to get moving.

"Let's go!" he said enthusiastically. The hoses and equipment attached to his body do not deter this ball of energy.

"Oh he's very outgoing," Coffman said. "I mean, once you get him warmed-up, he is like, Mr. Talkative."

He always has to have a nurse or a respiratory therapist with him, whenever we take him places, so a lot has to do with funding."

All of this trip was free thanks to the "Life-Air-Life-Ambulance" company.

"It makes me feel great," said Michael Pistole with Life-Air. "I'm very fortunate I have three kids of my own and thank the Lord they're all healthy."

It has been a year of firsts for Manny.

"Until last year he was not able to leave the hospital," Shanks said. "We got him enrolled in Cincinnati Public Schools and since then he's a totally different kid, brightened up, his personality has blossomed."

Manny is really beginning to spread his wings now.

"Absolutely," Pistole said. "This makes you feel just as good if not better, just to see the look of joy on his face when we took off at Children's was worth it all."

"He makes me proud to be a nurse and do what I do," Shanks said.

Every Wednesday is their outing day for Manny at Children's. Life-Air-Life-Ambulance hopes what they do for Manny will encourage other people and their companies, to "adopt" other kids at Children's, so more of them can do all the cool things other kids their age get to do, who are not living, at a hospital.

View original Fox19 story here

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