Plane dedication to raise awareness for rare brain cancer
AUGUSTA, Ga. (WRDW/WAGT) - Two Augustans are being honored on Glioblastoma Awareness Day.
It’s an aggressive form of brain cancer that about 10 to 11,000 people in the United States are diagnosed with each year.
This plane belonged to Brad Kyzer, who sold it to Augusta Aviation, where a special dedication ceremony took place.
Community gathered at Daniel Field Airport to recognize Kyzer and Rachel Mack for their service to the community.
Kyzer’s love for aviation started as a kid. He later became a pilot, sharing his love of aviation with the youth.
“I’m on the board of directors of the Boys and Girls Club. One of my ions has been helping the kids at the Boys and Girls Club have a chance to fly,” Kyzer said.
He decided to sell his plane to Augusta Aviation after being diagnosed with glioblastoma.
Augusta Aviation dedicated Kyzer’s Piper J3 cub plane with a gray ribbon decal in of glioblastoma awareness.
The plane will now be used in flight training.
Becky Shealy is the marketing director at Augusta Aviation. She said, “He took it a step further and wanted to make sure the opportunities were in place for these students to succeed if they had the drive to do so. Each time we get a new student out here, that’s going to do primary training, and they get in that airplane. Brad’s legacy is going to live on.”
Deputy General Counsel for Augusta, Rachel Mack, was diagnosed with glioblastoma in May. She plays a major role in the Daniel Field and General Aviation Commission teams offering legal counsel.
Nine years later, she submitted her resignation letter and was honored for her hard work.
“People that work for Augusta, the people in the Augusta community that I have met throughout the years, everyone has been such a blessing in my life so thank you so much, and I will miss everyone,” she said.
Dr. Gerald Wallace says glioblastoma is the most common form of brain cancer and can be deadly within a few months of being diagnosed without treatment. He says about 350 people in Georgia are diagnosed every year.
“The prevalence is not too much different, which means people are not living long enough to accrue a group of people that have this disease, so we need to work a lot harder to find a cure and improve the outcomes,” Wallace, assistant program director of neurology, Georgia Cancer Center.
For Mack, she says raising awareness is important.
“If you have any issues that are different from your normal issues, I would say get that checked out immediately,” she said.
Both are receiving treatment. That can include surgery, radiation and chemotherapy. As for the plane, keep an eye on the sky, you may see it when students are training.
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