LUZERNE COUNTY, Pa. — This isn't the first time Michelle LaBar has strapped herself onto a jet plane at Hazleton Regional Airport in Luzerne County.
In fact, she has been taking free flights from Hazleton to West Virginia for the past four years thanks to Patient Airlift Services or PALS Skyhope, a nonprofit organization that provides free flights to those battling illnesses and needing to travel elsewhere for medical services.
Michelle, from Tamaqua, has complex regional pain syndrome, a chronic condition that causes long-lasting pain and inflammation in the body.
"So I go down for medication infusion. That's a week-long, and it's kind of something that resets your nervous system," said Michelle LaBar, PALS Skyhope ambassador and patient.
The closest treatment center is all the way in Morgantown, West Virginia.
"So I'd have to fly to Pittsburgh and Ohio, and then sometimes Uber down to Morgantown, so this is, is much much much more feasible for us," said Michelle.
PALS turns Michelle's 18-hour travel day with a commercial flight into a less than two-hour flight, "There's no charge to me as a patient," she said.
For Michelle, the Hazleton Regional Airport provides the landing zone for PALS Skyhope. Pilots flying for the organization, like William Seligman, are all volunteers.
"So, this gives you an opportunity to fly more and to do good, and that feels great," said William Seligman, Chester County.
Pilots not only volunteer their time and skills but their plane and fuel as well.
"It's really. It makes owning the plane be more than just sort of a selfish indulgence for yourself. You can really, there's a real purpose to it other than just having a good time, said Seligman.
Michelle's husband, Daniel, is thankful, too, and says her medical journey would've been much more difficult if it hadn't been for PALS Skyhope.
"I'm grateful. So to have this organization it helps out tremendously. Financially also so," said Daniel LaBar.
Michelle now volunteers for the non-profit, helping others on their journey.
For more information on the PALS Skyhope organization, click here.