Alexandra Jaffett, an Army reserve soldier, learned to cope with her own food allergies while growing up. Now her three sons, 4-year-old Gabriel and 2-year-old twins Christian and Joshua, have been diagnosed with severe food allergies as well.
Ms Jaffett and husband Carlos, an Active Guard Reserve soldier at Fort Belvoir in Virginia, heard about the Tolerance Induction Program at the Southern California Food Allergy Institute offering tailored oral immunotherapy (OIT) treatments they claim will drive food allergies into remission.
Note: SnackSafely.com does not endorse this claim. While OIT is known to help desensitize individuals, claims of remission have not been accepted by the medical community at large.
The problem was the expense of five round-trip, cross-country plane tickets for the family to reach the medical facility every nine weeks.
Enter Miracle Flights, a national nonprofit that provides free commercial flights to families who need help reaching medical treatment not available in their local communities. Plane tickets are provided at no cost to both children and up to two parents or caregivers, as many times as necessary.
“When I first heard about the Miracle Flights program, I thought, there’s no way they’re going to fly my entire family to and from appointments each time! The service they provide is mind-blowing,” says Alexandra. “To be able to freely fly out there and have Miracle Flights take care of the flights is a huge weight off our shoulders.”
The Jaffetts recently returned from their second visit to Southern California and anticipate another flight in the coming weeks, as the boys continue their treatments.
For more information about Miracle Flights or to help a family like the Jaffetts continue reaching the medical care they need – visit miracleflights.org.
