For four years, a Romanian association has been organizing free medical flights for seriously ill children who are being treated abroad. Flight number 200 was reached, with the total amount invested exceeding seven million euros. The next goal is to purchase an air ambulance.
The Blondie Association reached the charity flight number 200 PHOTO: The Blondie Association
It all started with Cristi, aka “Blondie”, “a lonely blond boy in a hospital in Constanța, for whom nothing could be done”. Since then, the Blondie Association has continued with Darius, Maya, Ionuț, Daniel, Cosmin, Victoria… and has now reached Rebeca and Tais who will arrive in Milan on the 200th medical flight.
In four years, more than 700 seriously ill children, who needed emergency interventions abroad, ended up in hospitals in Italy, Germany, France, Spain, Austria, Belgium, Great Britain, Finland, Turkey, Israel and Switzerland. More than seven million euros have been invested so far, with amounts between 20-50,000 euros being needed for each flight.
It was not about money, say the representatives of the Blondie Association, but about the chance for proper treatment that seriously ill children needed.
For four years, the Blondie Association has been organizing flights for sick children PHOTO: Blondie Association
About 80% of the children were under the age of one year and suffered from complex heart malformations, digestive, kidney, lung, neurological malformations, oncological conditions, rare diseases or required an organ transplant.
“Beyond the numbers, the experience so far has made it clear to us that Blondie is about giving every child a chance at normalcy, and the record achieved is about the story and the name of each one of them”mention the representatives of the association.
Buying an air ambulance, the next goal
The Blondie Association announced flight number 200 already with the following in mind. Moreover, an audacious goal is on the horizon, namely the purchase of an airplane – air ambulance, equipped with all the medical equipment needed for every condition, with a team of doctors and nurses specialized to provide emergency care in the air and, above all, free of charge for patients .
“200 is not a number. 200 is about normality, about effort, about working together, about love. In four years, how many have passed since the first flight organized by us, we never said NO, even if the world was in a pandemic or if there was a war at the border. That's why today we wanted to be about them, about the children we flew with, to say their names and honor every life regardless of the difficulty it comes with.” said Adelina Toncean, founder of the Blondie Association, during a press conference held on Tuesday, April 9, 2024.
Each of the kids who were given a chance was also named, and the list is enormous. The association announced that it continues its mission to reduce mortality and increase the life chances of children with serious conditions, who are at social risk.
“Blondie is about love. About the love you give to every life, whether it's long or not. It's the hand you hold tight until your last breath. It's about no one dying before they know what it's like to be loved.” have said the representatives of the association.
