M 2024
by Trisha Cromwell
Our Adventure sent us to Kodiak Island Alaska. The entire family went – Tisha, Kevin, Tray (pALS), Tyeler, and Bella. Our favorite and most memorable part of the Adventure was going to see the bears! We never expected to take a sea plane, which was definitely a once in a lifetime trip. It was amazing to experience traveling in such a small plane. We flew over Kodiak Island to Katmai National Park which took about 1 hr. We saw amazing scenery! We also took a whale watching tour. Unfortunately, we didn’t see any whales but saw lots of other wildlife.
Tray did have difficulty getting into the sea plane and boat, but we managed to make it work. Seahawk Air worked with us to ensure that Tray had the right kind of hip waders and was able to get in and out of the plane. At one of our stops, everyone but Tray got out of the plane – but Rolan, the pilot, maneuvered the plane so that Tray could still see the bears from inside the plane.
We took a portable electric wheelchair with us which helped us immensely. It took 3 planes each direction to get from our home in North Carolina to Kodiak Island. Alaska Air was very helpful in getting Tray onto and off of all of the flights and were very accommodating in helping us.
Our Adventure was so meaningful to us as a family. Tray’s diagnosis, at the age of 25, was devastating to us all and we have struggled adjusting to our new reality living with ALS. It was great to make memories doing something that we never thought we’d do!!!
Thank you so much Team Gleason!!!
What advice would you have for someone else going on a similar adventure?
A few words of advice – from the time we made the reservation to when we went, Tray’s ALS progressed to the point where getting up and down stairs was challenging. We didn’t check our accommodations and arrived to see that the house was a split-level design and Tray had to navigate stairs to move around the house. Also, the beds were too high for Tray to get in and out of easily.
