For years, Kathy Broussard flew her single-engine Piper Cherokee across Texas, bringing critically ill patients to Houston for life-saving medical treatments.
"I would pick up patients and drop them off ... and they would call a cab, and that was how it was done," said Broussard, who was part of a group of volunteer pilots who flew in patients from all over Texas.
In 1999, one of her frequent-flyer patients, Eva, called Broussard and said she wouldn't be coming in.
"She started crying and says, 'Kathy, I don't have cab fare.' "
Houston, Texas, is home to many medical centers, including MD Anderson Cancer Center, one of the world's premier cancer treatment facilities. But cab fare from Houston's main airports to the treatment centers can range from $50 to more than $100 each way.
For patients struggling financially, that expense alone can keep them from getting the treatments they need to stay alive.
"People lose everything. They lose their cars; they lose their homes. They're living with relatives. They wouldn't have cab fare. A lot of people would just stay home and die," said Broussard, 60. "And that's just not acceptable."
So Broussard started a group she called Houston Ground Angels, organizing volunteers to drive patients to and from Houston's airports and treatment centers for free. Today, driving her red pickup along Texas highways, Broussard credits Eva -- who passed away in 2001 from colon cancer -- as the inspiration for the program.
"I said, 'Eva, I'll drive you down.' I put her in my truck and went downtown. And then, all of the sudden, it just popped in my head, 'I wonder if [other people in] Houston would be interested in this?' "
Broussard placed an ad in the Houston Chronicle calling for volunteer drivers, and the response was overwhelming. About 300 people called to sign up.
At the time, Broussard was a single mother of five working full-time at an oil refinery. She spent her spare time coordinating the drivers, or "ground angels." When pilots alerted Broussard that they were flying in a patient, she would arrange for a ground angel to meet them.
"I was on the phone all the time. I carried a spiral notebook with all the volunteers' names and numbers in it," Broussard said.
Ultimately, the pilots liked the program so much that they asked to join, and the organization became the Houston Ground Angels and Pilots.
Today, the group includes nearly 50 pilots and 300 drivers. Patients contact the organization to request ground transportation from a Houston airport or a flight from their regional airport. Requests are posted on the group's website, and volunteers sign up for each "mission."
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