December 9, 2008 — Ask CarolAnn Garratt and Carol Foy how their week is going, and they’ll likely tell you it’s flying by. Literally.
The two are flying around the world in seven days to raise funds for a disease that killed Garratt’s mother. And while they’re doing it, they’re attempting to set a world record, too.
The two women — Garratt, of Ocala, Florida, and Foy, of Spicewood, Texas — are flying around the world as part of Dash for a Cure. Garratt lost her mother to ALS, or Lou Gehrig’s disease, in 2002; in 2007, a cousin of Foy was also diagnosed with the progressive neurodegenerative disease that affects nerve cells in the brain and the spinal cord. It is fatal, with people dying in two to five years after diagnosis.
After crossing the Gulf of Aden and the mouth of the Red Sea Monday, the two landed at Djibouti-Ambouli International Airport, Republic of Djibouti, East Africa, where they rested overnight.
Their current leg is a long one - over the continent of Africa, preparing for the final "hop" over the Atlantic Ocean to Orlando, Florida, where they started late on December 2. Their route already took them from Florida to San Diego, to Hawaii, to Guam, to Thailand, over India to Oman, and Africa.
The last few days have been long ones, with the two flying 20 hours or longer and sleeping only three to four hours at time. When they’re not flying or sleeping, they work on aircraft maintenance, flight plans, reviewing winds and the weather, and refueling.
On some legs of the flight, they encountered contrary winds, and have flown much in total darkness. The two reported that they often alternate two-hour shifts sleeping/resting and being flying pilot.
“This flight is proof of what you can do one day, one flight leg, one step, one mile, one dollar or one discovery at a time,” they wrote in their flight log. “Anything, any dream, any goal is accomplished with one small step at a time, and so it has been with this flight.”
Click here to see where they are now. To date, the duo has raised about $150,000 for ALS research. Click here if you’d like to contribute.
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Carol Foy, left, and CarolAnn Garratt, prepare to leave Hawaii en route to Guam on their around-the-world flight.
Photo credit: www.alsworldflight.com
CarlAnn Garratt, standing, and Carol Foy, wave to friends and well-wishers before they take off for another leg of their round-the-world journey. Photo credit: www.alsworldflight.com
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