He shared this dream with Betsy, a pal from college, who in turn told her father, who in turn called me. First they wanted to know if a hospital could be put inside an airplane. I told them I wasn't sure, but if the airplane was big enough, it seemed like it could work. Then they asked where they could get such an airplane - for a discount of approximately 100 percent, of course. Once again I said I wasn't sure but that I thought a manufacturer or an airline might be willing to donate one.

The next thing I knew, I was in charge of getting an airplane for free, overseeing its transformation into a flying eye hospital, and then acting as chairman of the continuing effort to keep it flying. That was some lunch, let me tell you.