by MSG Robin Brown, Tennessee National Guard
Members of the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 1/230th Assault Helicopter Battalion conducted an orientation flight on Oct. 10, 2017 for Wesley McCall, a 16-year-old boy with brain cancer.
McCall was diagnosed with glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) grade four last May. He previously suffered from craniopharyngioma when he was three. St. Jude Children’s Hospital removed that tumor in 2004, but the cancer returned.
“The first tumor was solid and easy to get rid of, but this one branches out and shows up in other areas of the brain,” said SSG Angela Kemp, Wesley’s mother and member of the Tennessee Army National Guard’s 168th Military Police Battalion in Dyersburg, Tenn.
Wesley had surgery on May 31, 2017 and started radiation therapy at the end of June. “He did five weeks of that to help buy him some more time,” SSG Kemp said. “It affected his balance and swallowing; some days, he’s even been in a wheelchair. The radiation has made it shrink quite a bit.”
She added that the tumor would never go away. All treatment at this point is to continue to buy him more time and give him the best quality of life.
“St. Jude has also been great. They referred him to Make-A-Wish when he was 3, and we went to Disney World,” she said. However, Make-A-Wish can only fulfill one wish per lifetime.
James McCall, Wesley’s father, has been instrumental in helping him complete his bucket list. One of the things Wesley wanted to do was fly in a helicopter. Coincidentally, McCall used to work with Cory Riley, a first lieutenant in the Tennessee Army National Guard who serves as the squadron medical officer for the 278th Regimental Fires Squadron in Alamo, Tenn.
“I was contacted and asked to assist in securing a helicopter ride for Wesley, as this has always been a dream of his,” said 1LT Riley. The request quickly made it to MG Max Haston, the adjutant general of Tennessee. After the prospective flight received legal approval within the State, and from the National Guard Bureau, it just had to be scheduled.
“We were surprised he got it pulled off so quickly,” said McCall. “It was overwhelming that they were able to do this for him. Some Soldiers never get to fly in a helicopter, so the whole experience has been pretty cool!”
The flight crew wore #WesleysWarriors T-shirts for the flight, and a flight suit for Wesley was donated by the Tennessee Air National Guard’s 118th Wing in Nashville. CW4 Jayson Keel, a safety officer for Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 230th Aviation Regiment, sewed all the unit patches onto the flight suit so Wesley’s uniform would look official.
“It would be easy to sit at home and be depressed, but you can’t,” said SSG Kemp. “The Tennessee National Guard has been great and very understanding about his weekly doctor appointments and everything that has been going on. I couldn’t ask for a better group of people.”
