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u economist suntribune around the region saturday july 20 2002 jacqueline suen and daughter fiona get a birds eye view of downtown toronto from the sanyo blimp inset the blimp gave 12 families a once- inalifetime trip thanks to the makeawish foundation blimp keeps hope afloat i by mitchell brown staff writer t doesnt get much better than this steve tomlin our pilot said halfway through the flight he was referring to the excellent flying conditions over toronto last tuesday but he could just as easily have been describing the view although a yellowish haze had settled over the city the downtown skyline and lake ontario sparkled in the early morning sun every house on centre island was in clear view and at one point we could count the back yard swimming pools in the scarborough bluffs area halfway through our 45- minute flight we got so close to the top of the cn tower it felt as if we could reach out and touch it if only we could open the window traveller fiona suen said flying by the tower was her favourite part of the trip as well as seeing the ontario lake and centre island from 1000 feet she didnt care much however for the noise of the two propellers it was really loud up there she said its hard for life ears she and her mother jacqueline travelled from thornhill to toronto island airport to join 12 other fami lies for a onceinalifetime trip aboard the sanyo blimp thanks to the makeawish foundation the blimp which was in town for just a week had been moored at buttonville airport but weather condi tions prompted a last- minute change to the island airport with seating for only eight passengers it took sev eral trips for everyone to get a ride but if the looks of delight were any indication the children didnt mind we have a combination of kids here today in various stages of treatment or recov ery explained kim sokoloski the foundations director of operations we like to think a wish helps them get through the tough times fiona for instance was diagnosed with a brain tumour two years ago while visiting family in hong kong it required extensive surgery not to mention periodic treatment to guard against its return her mother said the tumour had a huge effect on the 10yearolds life destroying the vision in her left eye and altering her brain making it difficult for her to control her emotions or concentrate in school she was very upset before the operation her softspoken mother said now she is a very happy girl- happy and quiet at least during the flight like the other children on board she didnt have much to say dur ing the ride although she pointed out plenty of sights what made the ride more special for the children is so few people get to see toronto from this vantage point there are fewer than 20 blimps in the world and none is used to ferry paying passengers according to mr tomlin blimps are used mostly as advertisements and aerial camera booths during sports tournaments but crews often give rides to sick children in every city they visit the blimp or lightship is about 50 metres long 16 metres high and 14 metres wide allowing it to hold more than 150000 cubic feet of helium or 1 million golf balls despite the loud roar of the engines inside the cabin its also one of the most fuel- efficient ways to travel con suming less fuel in two weeks than a 747 jumbo jet uses to taxi to the end of the runway for takeoff then again a blimps top speed is only about 75 kmh so its unlikely to replace jumbo jets anytime soon still theres something to be said about cruising past torontos skyline at a leisure ly 75 kmh and if youre travelling with a cabin full of kids that something would be wow kids hospital tour prescription for fun by lisa queen staff writer you know youre in for some serious medical procedures if you show up at the hospital with a spider a frog and some balloons in your tummy dont be surprised then if youre whisked off to the operating room where a fibre optic probe is inserted into your innards and the results are displayed on a monitor the next step may be going under the knife on the table just a few steps away about 450 children from across the greater toronto area learned about surgery and other aspects of hospi tal life when they participat ed in york central hospitals annual junior medical degree event thursday afternoon l like it because im learning the aim of the kidsummer program which has welcomed about 7500 budding health care profes sionals over the past 12 years is to teach children how hospital teams work together to make people well usually kids first contact with a hospital is a frighten ing experience a trip to the emergency department for a bout of food poisoning getting a broken bone set having an operation to get tubes put in their ears or tonsils removed or some thing even more serious kidsummers tour of dif ferent departments gives children a comforting recol lection of a hospital if they ever have to come back in the future medical professionals can also teach kids impor tant messages about how to avoid diabetes how para medics save lives or the importance of wearing a bike helmet or swimming with a buddy the first stop for young sters on the yellow tour was the operating room where staff photomike barrett joey lakerdasgayle 3 crushes his medicine with a mor tar and pestle in the pharmacy they met freddie and butterfly bear freddie a realistic dummy was already under anesthetic waiting for his operation respiratory therapist angella mcdonald explained how she monitors his blood oxygen level with a clasp on his finger in another corner of the room butterfly bear wore a brave face but he had to be uncomfortable when a fibre optic probe revealed the contents of his stomach a plastic spider a rubber frog some pink balloons and a blue balloon that passed for his appendix kids also got to look at a plastic eye under the micro scope and play with models of bones and joints i like it because im learning said seven-year- old andrew markwart of richmond hill looking at the eye was the coolest melissa prickaerts 9 of aurora was also impressed with the eye i get to see it up close and ive never done it before proving it isnt just kids who are impressed with kidsummer melissas mom nancy prickaerts was also pleased to take part in the tour ive been operated on in this hospital so its nice to be awake this time to go through she joked over on the green tour junior pharmacists were mixing up medicines for their patient dr seuss had prescribed anikin skywalker some jedi magic elixir the patient was to take 3 ml daily libby duckworth 9 of richmond hill enjoyed using a mortar and pestle to grind up tablets its fun because you can find out what its really like when you grow up said libby who has her sights set on being a veterinarian when she grows up sevenyearold deng pan of north york was a whiz at the station that explained how food services provides meals for hospital patients he drew on his extensive knowledge of canadas food guide for the quiz meanwhile fiveyearold bianca jozwiak of keswick was pleased just to be on the purple tour because she had the chance to go on a fun stretcher ride through the halls of the hospital v zizi zt mm mm r- vjf watch inserts for saturday july 20 2002 one hour moto photo randys appliances david khurana sears fm industries radio shack seneca college north durham real estate home hardware toronto region conservation authority no one delivers results like w dq jafind out more about how mmm economist 8c sun 905 2948244 fflmlfi i 9 v r