Beryl Dunn, Dusten Woods and Linda Cuffe before their Little Wings flight.
A medical flight charity supported by a local festival is lifting the burden of travel for regional families.
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One Deniliquin youngster to benefit is 12 year-old Dusten Woods, who had to attend a hospital in Sydney for medical appointments.
His grandmother Beryl Dunn said Dusten has a range of neurological conditions requiring medical assistance, including ADHD, ADD, anxiety, dyslexia and autism.
Dusten, his grandmother and family friend Linda Cuffe were recently transported to and from Royal Far West Hospital by Little Wings, funded by local Tocumwal music festival Strawberry Fields.
Little Wings provides free, professional, safe flight and ground transport services for seriously ill children in rural and regional NSW, ACT and Queensland.
It does everything possible to support families by easing the financial burden, emotional strain and travel fatigue that they experience due to the long-distance travel associated with receiving vital medical treatment.
Mrs Dunn said the service was recommended to them by the team at Royal Far West, which is based in Manly.
This is third time Dusten and his grandmother have been taken to Sydney by Little Wings.
The first flight was organised out of Finley in August, with the other two trips since out of Deniliquin Airport.
“They (Little Wings) have been amazing,” she said.
“It’s a very different experience - a little air plane from Deniliquin to Bankstown, a car waiting for us, taking us to our accommodation and the same coming back.
“We’ve had three flights, and it makes a difference - it’s eight hours to drive from Deniliquin to Sydney.”
Mrs Dunn said Little Wings was even considerate when her friend left her handbag at the Sydney airport.
Mrs Dunn said for the time being Dusten no longer has to return to Sydney for appointments, but said she would turn to Little Wings again if further medical attention was needed in the future.
Dusten’s trips to Sydney were funded through grants provided to Little Wings by through the Strawberry Fields Community Grants Fund.
A portion of ticket sales each year are allocated to this fund, which disperses up to $35,000 annually in micro-grants to local organisations and not-for-profits that might otherwise face funding challenges.
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