A sign of hope recently arrived for a 49-year-old Midland City man in the form of a flight aboard a small airplane.
John Saverino traveled with his younger brother, Eddie Saverino, who rode a stretcher on board the airplane with the words “Christian Air Ministry” written on the side. After a near-fatal car accident a few weeks back in Dothan, John Saverino returned his brother to their native New York on Wednesday to complete his recovery. One donation after another came in to the family over the past week for them to purchase the flight through the ministry out of Griffin, Ga.
“My brother is alive, and he has a chance again,” Saverino said. “The doctors never thought he’d make it this far. They never thought he’d make it through the night or the week and here we are two and a half months later. He’d made Dothan his home, and I’m to be able to bring him back to New York to recover.”
Bea Johnson, Saverino’s cousin, saw a community of people come together to fund the trip over the past week, raising $7,538, which will cover the $7,130 cost of the flight to New York. The leftover money will go towards other expenses. Friends, relatives, and people at area churches donated the money for the flight.
“It meant a lot to me emotionally for the people who gave so freely from their hearts,” Johnson said.
After checking with other flight companies, many of which charged at least $15,000 for the trip, Johnson found Christian Air Ministry to fly him on a stretcher to New York. Saverino will be admitted at a brain trauma center near John Saverino’s home in Glen Cove, N.Y.
Eddie Saverino suffered serious injuries from a car accident on March 25 that left him in a coma at Flowers Hospital, Johnson said. Saverino was apparently working underneath a mini-van, trying to repair it, and it “mashed him” striking his chest, Johnson said.
The accident happened at Wiregrass Plaza shopping center on Westgate Parkway near a Subway and Winn-Dixie.
“It compressed his chest, which cut off the air to his brain,” Johnson said. “At first the doctors said there was no hope, but we just kept seeing little signs. Now he is able to communicate, he has recognized some of us and he has called my name.”
Ricky Martin, Saverino’s church pastor who attended the departure at the Flightline hangar, called the flight a miracle. Martin serves as pastor of Sanctuary of Praise in Midland City where Saverino attended church over the past three years, and served as an usher prior to his accident.
“We’re going to miss him,” Martin said. “He was an important part of our congregation. We’re glad to see he’s able to go on what I call the other leg of his journey.”
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