Support & Bless Dan Hughes' Family Leukemia Battle

Air Traffic Controllers and mental health are two things that are not discussed nearly enough. As a former air traffic controller, I watched a wave of controllers take their lives due to life’s stressors and their reluctance to communicate their need for help. As an aviation community this is devastating.

When Dan Hughes, a retired ZBW air traffic controller, reached out and cautiously shared his family’s perilous financial situation, due to crushing life circumstances, I felt called to action. Dan’s wife has expressed her growing concern for the stressors Dan is carrying on his own, and as a friend, it is clear to me that this family desperately needs our help. What hangs in the balance is mental stability, reliable transportation to and from Lisa’s cancer treatments, the ability to communicate with each other, paying ever increasing medical bills, and getting caught up on monthly household expenses. Their situation is dire and this loving family is in need of our compassion and support. My hope is that, as a community, we may embrace Dan Hughes and his family and lend a hand to help lessen the emotional, mental and financial burden of having "gone it alone” through Lisa’s unexpected medical and cancer treatments.

For the Hughes family 2024 began with a bang, literally, when Dan’s wife, Lisa, fell and shattered her primary and only functioning arm and elbow. Following a successful elbow replacement, she required another surgery to repair a secondary break. The surgery team postponed the fix due to some weird numbers in Lisa’s blood labs. After several tests and a bone marrow biopsy, she was diagnosed with both Multiple Myeloma and Myelodysplastic Syndrome (MDS). Two separate blood cancers at the same time.

Dan had to stop working outside the home due to the level of care now required for Lisa. Medical bills, travel to and from the cancer center and specialists in Philadelphia, along with the challenge of working from home to pay the bills has taken its toll on this wonderful family. They are faithfully moving forward and those who know them best are certain they will overcome this hurdle together as they’ve done before.

A community of prayer, encouragement, and financial help are the goal of this campaign. Please help Dan, Lisa, and their daughters as you feel lead to. Bless them with your words, notes, prayers, and financial support in this valley that they are walking through. Thank you for your generosity and may God bless you and the Hughes family!