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For Fred Meyling, there long existed big, lofty dreams that he held onto despite challenges and pitfalls in his life -- Meyling wanted to become an airplane pilot. And there were many times when he believed this was little more than just a dream. But it was a dream eventually achieved.
Meyling -- a former member of the U.S. Army who was honorably discharged -- thought most of his goals and ambitions were shattered when he fell from a roof one day in June 1976. This accident changed life’s trajectory for Meyling as he broke his back, suffering a spinal cord injury (SCI). It took a big move of his entire family from Pennsylvania to California for better weather and years of physical therapy for Meyling to walk again. And just when all settled into normalcy, a second spinal injury occurred in 1984 as he completed a simple twisting motion with a household task. Fred Meyling spent more than two months in the hospital and then was in a wheelchair. He was unable to find work, and life was simply not the same. But he never gave up. Instead he attempted small businesses and then settled into volunteer work with various organizations. This path led him toward his biggest dream. During volunteerism with Sun n Fun -- to which he committed more than 30 years thus far -- he achieved his dream and flew many different planes with the group. He also started Sun n Fun’s Handicap Services Department for others like him. His pilot dreams also led toward becoming an organizational chairman and working air show control as well. He also volunteered for many years with EAA Oshkosh on their flight line. Comments are closed.
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