Sylmar Hang Gliding Association

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 5/9/09
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Earlier this week David Prentice, legendary Hang Glider and Paraglider pilot, was severely injured during a training session in Florida.
After reconstruction of his right arm and stabilization of spinal injuries, David has been released from the Hospital with the hope of full recovery over time.
Unfortunately David, his wife Rasa and new son Sky have no resources to fall back on and face astronomical medical bills and difficulty of continuing to teach while recovering.
Friends of the family are soliciting assistance to help them thru this difficult time.
Donation sites have been set up on David's website http://www.earthcog.com/ or direct contributions can be made to:
David and Rasa Prentice
7485 Prairie Road NE
Albuquerque, NM 87109
Cards and other forms of help are equally welcome.
Further information is also available at
http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtop ... 959#157959

Hey All,

I have copied the following from http://www.paraglidingforum.com/viewtop ... 959#157959:

Sorry to hear about Dave's accident, and I hope he heals soon. But this prompts
me to rant (just a bit) on the topic of health insurance.

DON'T FLY WITHOUT IT!!!!!!

Geezz, people...what's it take to get through to everyone that bad things
CAN happen, and you need to take at least basic precautions? Yes, health
insurance is an expense, but it doesn't have to be crippling. The kind of
insurance that we all should be carrying is "major medical" with a fairly
high deductible.

If you're covered by an employer-sponsored plan, great! That's going to
cover medical bills (or at least the majority of the cost) and keep you from
going bankrupt the first time you need significant care. If you're self-
employed, unemployed or working for a company that doesn't offer a
plan, then you need to fork over the couple-hundred bucks a month to
make sure you're at least covered for disasters.

I've heard way too many stories of pilots who get hurt and have zero
coverage. Far too many "let's hold a bake sale to help with his expenses"
requests. Too many "send some money to keep XXX's family fed while
he recovers." Medical insurance is something we need to take just as
seriously as car insurance or paying the monthly rent/mortgage.

You can shop for insurance plans online, and this is a resource I've
pointed other pilots to in the past.

http://www.ehealthinsurance.com

I see that I could get a basic 'disaster level' plan for $59/month, with an
annual $15K maximum out-of-pocket. $15K is a lot...but it's a sum you
could work off in a year or two. This isn't insurance to cover the routine
costs of minor office visits and so on. This is coverage to find all the
pieces and put them back into some resemblance of a human after you
smack the ground!

I thought, as a couple of healthy not-too-old people, that we'd not need
our coverage for years yet. And then my wife developed electrical trouble
in her heart. In the space of a couple years she went in for surgery twice,
and even though it was in-and-out same-day, it was $50K or so for each
of the procedures. It would have wiped out our entire life's savings if we
had not had good insurance coverage. As it was, her company-provided
plan covered all but a few hundred dollars of the bill.

We're one bad decision away from the kind of accident that burns a
half-million dollars to put right. Don't leave that kind of burden for your
family to deal with, for decades to come. Fly insured!

Mark G. Forbes
USHPA insurance chairman
Corvallis, Oregon