Jim Davis
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Jim Davis comes from a small town in Arkansas and flies a small plane he built from a kit. But the man with a big heart is on a mission to offer hope and encouragement for cancer patients all across the country while taking them on a free ride in his aircraft.
On Saturday, Davis touched down at the St. George Regional Airport in his experimental plane to offer a free ride to a local cancer survivor — Dixie State University art professor Glen Blakley. The Utah stop was the 37th state Davis has visited and he says he’s not finished yet, even though the 74-year-old pilot was diagnosed in December with probable stage 4 cancer.
“I went in for my semiannual CT scan. They found a spot on my liver, one on my lymph node and a new one on my lung,” the four-time cancer survivor said.
The doctor told Davis the cancer had probably already spread and that he shouldn’t expect to live much longer – maybe nine months.
“So, I did a lot of praying. … I began to think about all the things I hadn’t done and how I was going to cram them all in in nine months time. One thing I’d always wanted to do was fly my little plane all around the United States,” Davis said.
After visiting the Eastern states and returning home for a new CT scan, he learned the spots on his liver, lymph node and lung were gone.
“So I praised the Lord and continued my journey,” he said.
That journey has included coordination with other members of the Experimental Aircraft Association across the country to connect Davis with patients whom he hopes to show that “there’s life after cancer.”
“I think this is why (the Lord) has kept me around — so I can encourage people,” Davis said. “So many times, the doctor says, ‘OK, … you’ve got cancer.’ People become depressed. Sometimes they sit down, shut down, and just sit there and wait to die. Wrong! I got motivated when I thought I was going to die.”
He also said he tries to alert people to the need to have regular doctor’s exams so that they don’t discover cancers too late to effectively treat them.
Davis is under no illusions about cheating death forever, and at age 74 he figures his time will probably come sooner than later. And the former smoker accepts personal responsibility for the lip and lung cancers that have troubled him in the past. But maintaining a positive attitude has helped strengthen his immune system, he says.
“In the meantime, I try to live every day to its fullest,” he said.
In Louisiana, Davis flew with a man who has incurable pancreatic cancer. He was happy to learn in an email last month that the man is “still alive.” In Mississippi, his passenger was a 14-year-old “beautiful young lady” who was weak after completing a round of chemotherapy the day before.
“By the time we landed she had a smile on her face from ear to ear and she gave me a big hug,” he said.
The rides don’t include any adventurous acrobatics, and Davis is careful not to take risks in inclement weather. The Southwest’s monsoon weather has set him back three days on his itinerary, he said.
Davis' flight plans with Blakley were cut short when wind at the airport picked up -- "the wind sock was standing straight out," he said. But he had a nice tour of the town with Blakley, and an offer to resume the ride Sunday morning is still on the table if it doesn't conflict with Blakley's church schedule, he said.
“(My plane) is not a speed demon,” Davis said. “I just wanted something I could land in a football field and walk away from.”
After offering a ride to a cancer patient in Kingman, Arizona, Davis crossed the Grand Canyon on Saturday and met his contact in St. George — Jennifer Carroll, who is president of the local EAA chapter with her husband Pat, a SkyWest pilot.
Carroll said they learned about Davis when he sent them a couple of newspaper articles and a letter explaining his efforts to help cancer patients. Carroll coordinated the details between Davis and Blakley, a two-time survivor, and ensured Davis would have a place to stay the night.
Next, Davis is headed to Pahrump, Nevada and then to California as the next stops on his Western states swing. He was disappointed, he said, that he didn’t have a way to get his plane to Hawaii. And he didn’t know if his plane would be legal over Canadian airspace if he tried to fly to Alaska, but he has upcoming stops arranged in Idaho, Montana, the Dakotas and elsewhere.
Along the way, he’s received some donations – in Kingman, his hotel comped his room, he said, and the airport provided him with lunch. A few club chapters have provided financial help, but other than that he’s left to rely on his savings.
Does he have enough saved to complete the rest of his journey?
“Either that, or I know my banker’s phone number,” he said.
For information
Visit Davis' blog: flyinggeminpurplepassion.blogspot.com
Source: http://www.thespectrum.com
Four-time cancer survivor Jim Davis, an Arkansas pilot, poses with his home-built plane Saturday at the St. George Regional Airport. Davis is making it his mission to visit every state in the continental U.S. and offer free flights to cancer patients to help encourage them as they fight their illnesses.
Pilot Jim Davis, left, and Jennifer Carroll discuss preparations for Davis to fly with cancer survivor Glen Blakley on Saturday at the St. George Regional Airport.
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