Christian Roy, 12, may not be able to walk, but he sure can fly.
“I think he thinks everyone can fly,” said Paul Roy, Christian’s father. “He just loves flying.”
Christian was born as a micro premature baby in Hershey, Pa, weighing only 1.4 pounds. In his twelve years of life, Christian has undergone more than thirty surgeries, and the Roy Family recently bought a plane to fly Christian to his various medical appointments around the country.
“We use our plane, which is a six seat Saratoga, to get him health care,” added Paul Roy. “We’ve been to Boston, Florida and Delaware. He’s going to have a major surgery shortly, so the plane affords us to get him the best health care we can find.”
On days in between hospital visits, Christian can just be a normal kid and visit airplane shows, like the Frederick Municipal Airport’s “Fly-In” event Saturday afternoon.
“Frederick’s usually our largest event,” said Steve Hedges, director of media relations for the Aircraft Owners and Pilots Association (AOPA). “We had about 3,000 people last year. The weather’s great and we’re expecting some pretty good numbers.”
Christian’s dad asked him why he liked flying. His answer?
“It’s enjoyable!” exclaimed Christian.
With 500 planes flying in and out of Frederick’s airport in one day, Christian simply sat back, relaxed and enjoyed the memory with his dad.
“This is his activity, it’s his life,” said Paul Roy.
Saturday marked the fifth air show that Christian has seen this year. He and his family will fly to Delaware June 26th, where he’ll undergo hip replacement surgery.