Thursday, August 28, 2014
VIENNA
Gallery
Thirteen-year-old Christian Abrigg of Canfield, sporting an ear-to-ear smile, executed a snappy salute after being sworn in as an honorary Air Force Reserve second lieutenant of the 910th Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station.
The ceremony is one of the many activities Christian experienced Wednesday as part of the Air Reserve Station’s “Pilot for a Day” program.
The purpose of “Pilot for a Day” is to reach out to the community by providing a fun-filled day of activities to children who live with a chronic or life-threatening disease or illness.
Christian, a seventh-grader at St. Christine School in Youngstown, has life-threatening allergies to nuts, peanuts and latex; asthma; and an autoimmune disease that complicates the other conditions, said his mother, Jody Abrigg. She and her husband, Byron, have three other children: Byron, 19; Maddie, 16, and Liam, 15.
Christian receives treatments every two weeks at Akron Children’s Hospital Mahoning Valley, including a special injection that helps him fight off his allergy problems.
“He has a great spirit about it. He doesn’t complain,” said his mother, who paints watercolors and does lettering.
“We’ve been so excited about Pilot for a Day.
He’s been counting down the days all summer,” she said.
Christian likes to play soccer and anything sports related. He was glued to the television during the World Cup competition, said his father, a financial adviser with Edward Jones Investments in Canfield.
In school, Christian is more math-oriented, but gets a lot of help from his parents because of the many days of school he misses as a result of his health problems.
But Wednesday was a day of no school and no worries for Christian.
It started off with a tour of the base in a Marine Corps Humvee after which he was dressed in a genuine air crew flight suit before taking the Air Force officer’s oath administered by Col. David Post, commander of the 910th’s Maintenance Group.
Among mementos Christian received were a Wing Coin, also known as a Challenge Coin, and a model of the C-130 Hercules stationed at YARS from Marty Campa, a representative of the Base Community Council, financial co-sponsor of the program.
Other activities included a visit to the Life Support shop, firing the Fire Arms Training Simulator, a ride on the base super-soaker firetruck and being taxied down the main runway aboard a $33 million C-130.