Transforming Diagnosis of Despair When their 34-year- old son became ill during a family vacation in Florida, the Kaufman’s sought help from a local hospital. Immediately, Chaim* was placed in the ICU, and relied on a ventilator for every breath. Over the next few weeks, his condition rapidly deteriorated. With his organs failing, doctors were certain that Chaim’s body could hold out no longer. Unbelievably, they even encouraged the family to end his life by pulling the plug to life support. The situation was completely hopeless. But the family never gave up praying for a miracle. They searched for other hospitals that would possibly provide better care for their son. It was Friday night, which begins the Sabbath, the holiest day of the Jewish week and typically involves no phone calls or traveling. But this was no typical situation and exceptions are always made when someone’s life hangs in the balance. An emergency phone call was placed to VitalOne, who assured them that even though the situation was bleak there was hope. There was only one place that he would stand a chance, Mayo Clinic. Mayo Clinic’s 3,300 physicians, scientists and researchers and 46,000 health staff workers are legendary for their expert patient care. Making numerous phone calls and arrangements VitalOne soon found an extraordinary way to transport this dire patient while maintaining full ICU care. VitalOne contacted Mayo Clinic requesting their Critical Care jet with their highly trained medical team to deploy immediately. But there was only one thing preventing them from taking off: the sum of $19,586 which would have to be paid to cover its expenses. Within seconds, Rabbi Leider contacted a wealthy philanthropist who agreed to sponsor the trip. His generosity meant that the Chaim could finally board the specially equipped air ambulance and be transferred to Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minnesota. VitalOne saw to it that a highly trained medical team was on board... This was the first time that Chaim was receiving such meticulous care. Upon arrival in Minnesota at 7:20 AM Sabbath morning, doctors and staff at Mayo Clinic were ready. The immediately assessment and diagnosis was bleak. One thing was for sure, Chaim would not have survived if he had arrived any later. Now began a race against time. Incredibly, over the next six weeks, as a result of the extraordinary care at Mayo Clinic, Chaim had a complete recovery. VitalOne’s connection to the medical team enabled Chaim to receive the highest level of treatment with a remarkable degree of skillfulness and devotion. To this day, the Kaufman’s express their gratitude to VitalOne. His extraordinary assistance went above and beyond the call of duty. When the doctors saw no light at the end of the tunnel, VitalOne provided the Kaufman’s with hope and the courage to believe that their son could one day, indeed, have a complete recovery.    *Names have been changed to protect the privacy of the family Copyright 2009 All Rights Reserved. www.VitalOne.org Air Medical Transport Patient & Family Support Crisis Assistance Search & Rescue Disaster & Recovery Site Designed & Developed by SmartWeb