Rich and Irene Wheeldon were involved in a hot air balloon accident on July 30, 2022 in Indianola, IA in the pre-dawn flight. The basket caught fire and both sustained injuries from the fire. They were both transported via ambulance to Iowa Methodist Medical Center, from there Irene was life flighted to the University of Iowa burn unit and Rich was driven by ground ambulance to the same place.

Irene sustained burns to her scalp, face, arms, hands, and knees. Rich has burns on his back of his head, neck, arms, hands and most of his back.

Like their injuries, their medical expenses will be extensive as treatment will be ongoing for several months and this will help offset some of those costs.