This month marked three years since Dana Hunt was diagnosed with ALS.
“On average, you live 2 to 5 years from diagnosis," Hunt explains. "I'm already beating half of the statistic because I've outlived the 2 and I expect to beat the other half.”
With help from her friends and an adaptive trike, she decided ALS wasn’t going to take away her sense of adventure and she continues to paraglide to this day.
And for the past year, she's been finding ways to give that same feeling to other people living with disabilities.
Through her nonprofit, Adaptive Impact, Dana has helped nearly 100 people with permanent mobility issues, including people with spinal cord injuries, stroke survivors and others living with ALS experience flight.
And she makes those flights free. “One of my participants, John, was diagnosed with ALS," Hunt says. "He came down and he said, that's the first time I felt like myself since diagnosis. And that's why we do what we do. It's a moment when the diagnosis or the injury just fades away, even if it's only for 20 minutes, and that's impactful.”
For those 20 minutes, they're not thinking about what their bodies can no longer do. They're thinking about what they still can.
But giving people that experience comes with a cost. A flight can run about 300 dollars.
Some participants pay it forward, covering the cost for the next person. But to keep the program going and reach more people, Adaptive Impact relies on fundraising.
Next Friday, Dana will host a fundraiser here at Torrey Pines Gliderport where she’s hoping to raise $15,000.
"Anyone that's seen the way that it affects people would understand why this is important," she says.
Hunt says she doesn't know how many more years she'll have to fly, but she knows what she wants to do with them.
"There's zero interest in being famous, but I'm interested in influencing and using that for positive change.”
