Read more about the Strawhorns’ nonprofit and its origins at flight1.org.
“It seemed so impossible,” he said. And yet, he did it. While the kids in Flight1 don’t earn a license, many report a similar sense of accomplishment and freedom. “Just to be in a plane and be behind the controls and do whatever you want,” Sandy said. “There’s nothing else that can give you that. When you are in the air, there are no stop signs, no stoplights. You are free to go wherever you want.”
L
evi’s cancer story began with a cough. His parents, Teresa and Patrick, were suspicious. It was July in 2017, well past the normal cold and flu season. A week later, he told his parents that he was tired and that things smelled and tasted weird. Teresa, a nurse, took Levi to his pediatrician, half expecting the doctor to tell her that those symptoms made no sense, that she was crazy, that nothing was wrong. Instead, doctors scanned his chest and found the growth. The next day, they went to a pediatric oncologist, and lab work showed that threequarters of the boy’s blood was actually cancer cells. What followed was nine months of intensive chemo at Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis. “You stand on the sidelines, completely helpless, literally watching your child wasting
away,” Teresa said. “I couldn’t even hold him or hug him because his bones and muscles hurt so bad.” Since 2018, Levi has been in a maintenance phase. It sounds easy, but it’s not. On Fridays he takes 25 pills. Levi and his sister, Tyra, learned about Flight1 through a summer field trip to the hangar at Vincennes University Aviation Technology Center. Little Red Door, a nonprofit that supports families affected by cancer, sponsored the trip. When Teresa picked the kids up from that field trip, it was the most excited she had seen Tyra in months. Both said they wanted to give Flight1 a shot. “I said, ‘How much does that cost?’ because we owe IU Health tens of thousands of dollars,” Teresa recalled. At first, she didn’t believe her kids when they told her it was free. Since the first flight on October 25, Tyra has decided she wants to be a commercial pilot and has plans to study aviation through a vocational technology program at her high school. Levi said he wants to fly the plane that pulls a Geico banner around Indianapolis Motor Speedway. The kids have two more flights left. “The Flight1 organization is incredible,” Teresa said. “The kids are completely in control of what is happening, and control is something none of us has right now, especially Levi. To have that kind of experience, and to not have to pay a dime, it’s incredible.”
Photo by Steve Fleenor
(Left) Hooisers Marcus and Sandy Strawhorn, originally from Ossian and Macy, respectively, met at Ball State in the 1990s. After college, Sandy worked as a licensed stockbroker and then an early childhood educator before becoming full-time program director for Flight1. Marcus has worked at Eli Lilly for 21 years, most recently in quality assurance. (Bottom) Tyra Fragodt with her dad, Patrick Schreiber, Indianapolis Regional Airport, October 2019.
A big thanks (and a late apology) from Marcus Strawhorn Throughout high school and college, Marcus was an introvert. His dream was to be a scientist so that he could work in a lab, alone. “I had no people skills,” Marcus recalled. In order to graduate at Ball State, Marcus had to take an intro to speech course. Most students knock it out in their freshman or sophomore years. But Marcus postponed it until he was a senior. He hated it. “I remember getting so frustrated at my instructor,” he recalled. “I said, ‘I’m never going to use this. I’m going to be a scientist.’” The instructor told Marcus that no matter what he did in life, he needed to know how to communicate. Now, Marcus hosts numerous fundraising events that require him to give speeches and tell the Flight1 story. He has tried to find his old instructor and make amends, but, more than 20 years later, he can’t remember her name. “I wish I could go back and apologize to her.”
Photo by Steve Fleenor
36 Summer 2020
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