(WHAS11) A Louisville dentist and a local helicopter pilot are just hours from touching down in Port-au-Prince Haiti where they will assist earthquake victims for at least two weeks.
Our Sky 11 pilot, Dustin Morantes, flew alongside pilot Tom Eifler and Louisville pediatric dentist, Patrick Kessee, as they departed from Bowman Field.
Eifler told WHAS11 a little about what they’re doing.
“Well, basically, after the earthquake hit we were ready to go. We set up a foundation and tried to raise money to basically cover our fuel cost. Our biggest hurdle was really trying to get hull insurance on the aircraft. They’d cover us in the U.S., but as soon as we flew off the coast of Jupiter we weren’t (covered),” said Eifler.
He continued, “I’ve got a good doctor with me, Doctor Keesee, who’s a pediatric dentist and he’s got a lot of his equipment on board, so we can help as much as possible. We’re going to be spending a lot of time flying in and out of orphanages. There are about 200 orphanages that are in critical need.”
“I’ve got the ability to do something I love and go down and help people that really need it; and there’s a critical need for helicopters to get these supplies in and out of remote places that they can’t get to, so it adds a whole new logistic to what they’re doing down there”
Doctor Patrick Keesee will be offering free dental services to Haitian children in earthquake damaged areas.
Pilot Tom Eifler will be transporting water filtration systems and personnel around the island for edge outreach.
Eifler also said he’ll also be working for any other charity that needs help, and for as long as they have money.
If you want to follow along with their experience they’ll be blogging while on the trip.
We’ve linked you to their blog on our front page, just click on Louisville-for-Haiti.blogspot.com.
