Up in the sky – that’s where her dream lies
Netcare911 took Leyla Oberholzer, a 13-year-old aviation enthusiast on a trip in a helicopter.
As Emergency Medical Service week draws to a close, what better way to give back than by inspiring today’s youth to become the leaders of the future?
This is why Netcare 911 took Leyla Oberholzer, a 13-year-old girl from Krugersdorp, on a helicopter flight. She aspires to be a helicopter pilot when she finishes school so Netcare decided to give her a special tour of their facilities during the Take a Girl Child to Work initiative.
Photo: Submitted
Not only did she get to meet Sonia Goncalves, one of Netcare 911’s finest pilots, she was also presented with a small Netcare 911 flight suit and helmet to fit the part.
Sonia introduced the aspiring future pilot to the two-seater helicopter where her training would begin and showed how she could build up her experience by converting to the four-seater helicopter, and so on. Advanced training would also be required for the bigger helicopters like the Netcare 911 Bell 222.
Leyla was given a flip in one of the helicopters, and after they landed she was shown around the aviation school where mountains of textbooks were lying in wait for her. She would need to study hard to succeed in the aviation industry.
Photo: Submitted
She then met the friendly Rand Airport Control Tower air traffic controllers and watched how they guided helicopters as they were landing and taking off. She also got an exclusive tour of the maintenance division where all the helicopters are maintained and serviced.
Photo: Submitted
Sonia encouraged Leyla to get good marks in school and said that she would have to put in a lot of effort to achieve her goals, but assured her that the end result would be worth all the hard work. “She’s a sweet little girl who reminds me a lot of myself. I look forward to working with Captain Leyla in the future” said Sonia.”All of us as Netcare 911 enjoyed Leyla’s enthusiasm. She had a wonderful, and hopefully inspiring, morning with us and we wish her all the best for the future.”
Do you perhaps have more information pertaining to this story? Email us at krugersdorpnews@caxton.co.za or phone us on 011 955 1130.
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