John Jellis and FlySpec

FlySpec is an established flying medical service. It takes free orthopaedic and reconstructive surgery - and recently prosthetic and orthotic services - principally by air, to disabled people in towns and rural communities all over Zambia where such specialist surgery is not otherwise available.

FlySpec was set up and is run by John Jellis OBE, a British orthopaedic surgeon who lives in Lusaka. John's partner in FlySpec is Goran Jovic, a reconstructive plastic surgeon from Serbia. One of the amazing things about FlySpec is that these surgeons are also the pilots!

500 miles became involved with FlySpec after Olivia met John in January 2008.

Surgery with FlySpec

The kind of operations which the surgeons carry out are the treatment of congenital and acquired deformities, often from neglected trauma and bone infections (including cleft palate work and amputation). The work of FlySpec has grown steadily since John started it in 1982, but the increase has been dramatic over the last 6 years. In 2008, FlySpec saw 3,695 patients in remote locations and operated on 1,121 of them. The equivalent figures for the first half of 2009 are 2,324 consultations and 674 operations.  Even with high fuel costs and the fierce Euro exchange rate, the cost remains at around only £100 per operation. Over 60% of all the patients operated upon are physically disabled children.

Prosthetics and orthotics with FlySpec

Outside of Lusaka and Ndola there are minimal prosthetic and orthotic services in Zambia – but the difficult terrain and lack of infrastructure in Zambia make travel to these cities unviable if not impossible for most people living up country - especially those with mobility difficulties! So since May 2008, FlySpec has also offered prosthetic and orthotic services to disabled people who live in remote rural communities in Zambia. The service is delivered by the orthopaedic workshop at ZIOH which is also supported by 500 miles.

The technicians from the workshop at ZIOH now fly with John and Goran regularly and deliver the prosthetic and orthotic service countrywide on an outreach basis. We are successfully delivering on average 7-8 devices per month to male and female patients of all ages.

Prosthetics and orthotics research project

Outreach is not generally recommended for prosthetics and orthotics so FlySpec is treating the initiative as a research project and collecting detailed data – and follow up data - about the degree of improvement in each patient's quality of life. Learning from our experience so far, going forward, rather than being treated remotely, some patients will be identified by the technicians to come to Lusaka for treatment at the workshop at ZIOH and 500 miles will pay the travel and accommodation costs.

Planes

In 2007, FlySpec acquired a new aircraft (a second hand Cessna 206) to join John's own 1968 Musketeer. Unfortunately the Musketeer's new engine failed in May 2008. Nobody was hurt but the plane was written off. 500 miles has been able to find funding through a British trust to add to the insurance proceeds for the old plane to allow FlySpec to buy a second hand Cessna 182 through a US charity called Wings of Hope. We hope to have this plane airborne in Zambia early in 2010.

Funding

For 5 years up until the end of 2008, FlySpec's core operating costs were largely funded by the Royal Netherlands Embassy (RNE) - they also paid for the new Cessna 206 acquired in 2007. This funding played a large part in FlySpec's increased activity over that period. But RNE's aid programme has moved out of the health sector and so 500 miles is now helping to secure the essential funding required to continue and expand this invaluable service from 2009 onwards. You can help by joining 500 miles' One Smile giving programme by following the link.

Flying routes and destinations

Patrick, John and Goran