People Who Can’t Walk Get To Soar With Free Helicopter Rides

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A local nonprofit in Detroit, Michigan is offering up free helicopter rides over the city and surrounding country to people with cognitive and physical disabilities as one of its newest offerings.

The organization, called the D-MAN Foundation, has in the past also engaged in other unique adventures for the unique individuals it services. These previous adventures have included swimming with dolphins, vintage car rides, and trips to Florida.

According to Lexus Kejbou, executive director of the nonprofit, “We want to show what abilities they have, not what disabilities they have. We like to give them a different experience, something that they’ve never experienced before, to be able to sit in the front seat for once and experience the little things we usually take for granted.”

15-year-old Torrance Johnson probably couldn’t have agreed more when he described his own recent ride as “fantastical”.

The young man is one of five participants with disabilities who was selected for his own free chopper ride this past Tuesday through the D-MAN Foundation’s Assisted Travel Program. Johnson and three others among these participants are quadriplegics.

According to Torrance’s watchful mother Katrina Johnson, who was on-site as her son was being assisted into the helicopter, “Because he doesn’t get to do a lot, and for him to find something that he could do and that he’s excited about, it’s huge”

Torrance Johnson is however no slouch when it comes to achieving new and unique things that most people don’t pull off regardless of physical ability. Despite having spent his life confined to an electric wheelchair due to type two spinal muscular atrophy, the Detroit teenager has already written a book, met the former First Lady Michelle Obama, and also practices motivational speaking.

Describing his 45-minute helicopter ride, Johnson explains that, “It had a (big) impact on what I can do from this chair, especially when I look at people who aren’t in this chair who haven’t been up there. Anyone can be on an airplane, but a helicopter, that’s something different.”

Lexus Kejbou, who directs the nonprofit, elaborated on the greater purpose of his organization by stating that “We like to give them a different experience, something that they’ve never experienced before, to be able to sit in the front seat for once and experience the little things we usually take for granted.” He hopes that by allowing people with impairments to enjoy this, D-MAN can then help them focus on their abilities better.

Helicopter charters are used for all kinds of purposes that often include special assignments for charitable causes and social support. Though charter helicopter operators like Fair Lifts Helicopter Services engage in a wide range of private and public flights for transport and emergency rescue operations, they also take on unique tasks such as the chopper flight arranged by D-MAN Foundation.

Photo Credit: Junfu Han, Detroit Free Press