Circumstances align for life-saving flight
From left are Michele Wieser, who was Skyward Aviation’s director of marketing; Brianna Casciola, director of charter sales; Susan Corrado, co-owner and director of accounting; and Ronald Corrado, president and CEO.
Michele Wieser’s liver, packaged for transport
Amanda Mayger and Vince Wieser pose next to the plane that would take their mother’s liver and surgeons from a transplant team to Baltimore.
Michele Wieser lost her life Monday, but parts of her are sustaining two others.
She died about a month after a fall that resulted in a broken leg, which led to blood clots and her ultimate demise at 53. Yet, in the aftermath of this chilling occurrence, through an incredible set of circumstances and coincidences, there is a warm afterglow to this story.
Wieser was the director of marketing for Skyward Aviation at Washington County Airport.
She was known for her outgoing and diligent demeanor, which also dovetailed with her duties as a real estate agent for Howard Hanna.
She was an organ donor as well, and two days after her passing, her liver was transplanted into a failing patient in Baltimore and her kidneys into a recipient in Arizona.
Getting the liver to Baltimore is the incredible part. “The chances of this happening are one in a billion,” said Brianna Casciola, charter sales representative for Skyward, a jet charter company, and close friend of the deceased.
Casciola, daughter of Skyward owners Ron and Sue Corrado, said her company has relationships with two transplant organizations: Center for Organ Recovery and Education in Pittsburgh and the Living Legacy Foundation in Baltimore. She, family members and Wieser’s two adult children – Amanda Mayger of Greensburg and Vince Wieser of Minnesota – were out to dinner together when CORE called, saying it needed a flight for a donor from Washington County.
“We asked, ‘Is this Michele?’ He paused for a while and said, ‘Yes,'” a still incredulous Casciola said Thursday. She posted on Skyward’s Facebook page “the guy’s mind was blown that we had a connection to her.”
Casciola wanted her firm to take the flight, which required several phone calls. Skyward got the flight.
Two pilots took off for Baltimore at 1:45 a.m. Wednesday, picked up three surgeons, transported them to the South Franklin Township airport, then flew the doctors back to central Maryland after they secured the liver at Washington Hospital.
“What makes it so amazing,” Casciola said, “is that if it had been any location but Baltimore, we couldn’t have made the trip. We had a relationship with Baltimore. To have been able to take Michele’s liver there is amazing.”
What also is amazing is that the pilots, Capt. Tom Conard and Nathan Marion, found their homes through real estate agent Wieser.
She was a longtime friend of the Corrado family, having grown up in the area. From sixth grade through McGuffey High School, the young Michele Cumer and the future Sue Corrado were best friends. Michele eventually set up the pivotal blind date for Ron and Sue, and though Wieser is not a family member, Brianna Casciola refers to her as an “aunt.”
Wieser and her husband, Rick, were longtime Minnesota residents until his death eight years ago. She relocated to South Franklin in fall 2013 and was hired at Skyward.
“Michele was so passionate about working with us,” Casciola said. “We were lucky to have her.”
In addition to her children, Wieser is survived by her parents, John Cumer of Washington, and Edna Kiger Brafchak of Amity; a brother, Michael Cumer of Washington; and a sister, Nancy Hubley of Claysville.
Friends will be received from 2 to 8 p.m. Friday in William G. Neal Funeral Homes Ltd., 925 Allison Ave., Washington. A memorial service will be at 10 a.m. Saturday in Friendship Community Church, Washington. Private burial will be later in National Cemetery of the Alleghenies, Cecil Township.
Memorial donations may be made to Amanda Mayger, P.O. Box 602, Washington, PA 15301.
Though she is distraught about the passing of her “aunt,” Casciola takes solace in having been close to Michele Wieser and knowing much more than her memory lives on.
“Michele always teased that someday, she was going to fly in the back of one of Skyward’s jets,” she said. “She got her chance on a remarkable mission to save somebody else’s life.