Akron, N.Y. (WKBW) -- Akron Resident, Scott Woodward, has been living with cancer for 15 years.
“I can figure out anything, but I cannot figure out this cancer thing. Multiple Myeloma is a weird beast,” Woodward said. “The doctors said ‘well we are going to be able to keep you alive for awhile, but it is going to suck. Please try to find one of these new novel therapies.’”
So, Woodward signed up for a trial two years ago that put genetically modified T cells back into his body to help fight off the cancer.
“Just a few weeks later, instead of going to hospice, there was no evidence for disease,” Woodward said.
Woodward still needs to get to his doctor's appointments at Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore. Yet, airports and hotels became a risky option during the pandemic.
“My immune system doesn’t work like a regular immune system. It’s really bizarre,” Woodward said. “They don’t know what my T cells would do with this virus or the vaccination, so here I am.”
That’s when a stranger opened his wings. Woodward met John Greco last year when Greco volunteered to pick Woodward up and fly him to his doctor’s appointments on his personal plane. Greco volunteers through Angel Flight East, a nonprofit that helps patients get to their medical treatments far from home.
“I have a long way to go to be an angel, I guess,” Greco said. “But, I like to try and help as much as I can. It’s an honor and a privilege to him.”
Greco will bring Woodward home to Akron on Friday. Just in time for his grandson’s birthday.
“I’m alive because of him. I get to go to my grandson’s birthday. He’ll be five in a couple weeks. It’s just incredible.”
