Air Ambulance for Don Keough

Update, Oct. 1, 2016:

Thanks to your generosity, thoughts, prayers, support and Facebook shares, Don is safely in Syracuse and Courtenay has at least $10,000 to defray the cost of an extremely expensive air ambulance, two pilots, a nurse and a paramedic.

Even though Don is now in safe and capable hands, we'll leave the campaign open for continuing donations. Unfortunately, Courtenay still has to max out credit cards and dig into savings to make up the shortfall, so every little bit helps.

Thanks, everyone, for being such amazing friends of Don and Courtenay.

Original post:

Don Keough -- a friend, mentor, editor and inspiration to hundreds of us over the years-- needs our help. He needs an air ambulance to fly him from his home in Puerto Rico to Syracuse, where his daughter, Courtenay, lives.

Don suffered a heart attack on September 14 at his home in Puerto Rico. Although the heart attack was relatively mild, the accompanying neurological issues were serious. Unfortunately, he developed internal bleeding in a fall before his neighbors found him. That bleeding prevented doctors from adequately dealing with his heart and brain problems for his first 10 days in the hospital. He has just been moved from the ICU to a standard hospital room but is not yet receiving cardiac or neurological care.

His daughter, Courtenay Keough McKeon, is with him now. 

But here's the problem: Don needs to be flown to Syracuse, but can't afford the flight.

Even after Don is discharged, he can't be left alone in his condition. But neither can Courtenay stay in Puerto Rico. She has to return to her family and her job in Syracuse, N.Y., where she is a federal public defender. The only viable -- and expensive -- solution is to fly Don to Syracuse via air ambulance, which is essentially a flying intensive care unit.

If any of you have ever dealt with air ambulances, you know that they cost more than a person on a public defender's salary can afford. If you Google "air ambulance cost," you'll see what I mean.

So far, the only air-ambulance company that has returned Courtenay's calls, Air Ambulance Worldwide, quoted her a price of $35,000. She believes that is a worst-case scenario. So at this point, we don't have a firm figure for the flight. As we know more and sort out the financial situation, we'll let you know and adjust the fund-raising goal.

In the meantime, Courtenay has an update on Don's neurological issues, which "are a bittersweet blend of hilarious and soul-killing. His filter is entirely gone, resulting in a LOT of talk about [a certain body part], which should not be surprising if you've ever met my dad. He converses with a lot of people who aren't visible to me, but who are all evidently involved in some sort of CIA caper. Bless Dad's heart, the invisible sheriff and prosecutor are apparently both women. You all know how he loves his feisty dames."

We all have a fond and funny Don Keough story or two. Feel free to leave your thoughts on this page. Please share this page with others who know and love Don.

And please, please, please donate whatever you can. If you're like me, Don changed your life in some profound way. This is our chance to say, "Thank you, Don, for everything you've done."