AbleFlight is an organization created by pilots that provide scholarships to people with disabilities who have the desire to learn how to fly an airplane. The mission of AbleFlight is to “offer people with disabilities a unique way to challenge themselves through flight and aviation career training, and by doing so, to gain greater self-confidence and self-reliance.”
Melissa Allensworth, a T4 paraplegic, received an Able Flight scholarship in 2017. She shares her story leading up to her first big flight.
Melissa worked through rehabilitation for a couple months, gaining back as much of her strength as she could. She admits that she still did not fully accept her circumstances. Melissa realized that her wheelchair actually motivated her to try harder and really push the limits of what is possible. Since becoming paralyzed, Melissa has gone bungee jumping, got scuba certified, went skydiving and is now a pilot thanks to Able Flight.
“It was probably a couple years before I was able to accept the situation,” Melissa said. Coming to terms with that after bungee jumping in her chair was her “Aha” moment when it finally clicked for her that she can physically accomplish things by just by applying and trying.
“That fear in a split second turned into this like quite peaceful feeling of like freedom. If I’m ever afraid to do something, you really just have to go through it and it changes in a split second.”
Through long intense days and apprehensions as to whether she can fully complete the astonishing task of being a certified pilot, Melissa succeeded and fulfilled her first solo flight. She says, “If I can learn how to fly an airplane, I can learn how to pretty much do anything.”