COLORADO NATIONAL GUARD 'MERCY FLIGHT' SAVED LITTLE BECKY SUE SADLER

In the pioneering days of aviation, a brave Colorado National Guard crew rushed serum over the Continental Divide - from Denver to distant Cortez - by dark of night and saved the life of little Betty Sue Sadler, 5, victim of botulism poisoning.

Colorado Governor Ralph Carr approved the urgent "mercy flight" by three members of the guard's 120th Observation Squadron to the southwestern corner of the state, a one-way trip of almost 300 miles.

The Sadler family's physician, H. R. Rasor, suspected home-canned cucumbers and peaches caused the lethal poisoning. The girl's little sister, age 3, died earlier that day - Nov. 4, 1940 - after eating the tainted food vegetables and fruit, the Rocky Mountain News said. The family drove to Cortez from their farm 30 miles northwest of town.

The physician appealed to the state trooper assigned to Cortez, Thomas Maier, for help. The trooper informed Joseph Marsh, the patrol supervisor in Denver, who then relayed the appeal to the governor.

Coloado's health secretary, Roy Cleere, procured the serum from Dr. Harry C. Evers, of 620 South Broadway in Denver - a veterinarian.

At that time, the common cure for botulism was derived from horse blood serum, according to the Smithsonian Institution. The equine-based formulation contained protective antibodies that were injected into infected patients.

The National Guard aircraft was waiting at the Denver's municipal airfield. It was piloted by Major Harrison Wellman, accompanied a crew of two sergeants, Joseph Moffatt and Samuel McGrew - and departed at 7:30 p.m., less than a hour after the request for help.

The craft arrived at Cortez at about 9 p.m., though shifting winds forced Wellman to circle the field for almost an hour as the aircraft's fuel dwindled.

In the meantime, the serum was dropped by parachute and rushed to the girl's bedside. Her doctor was waiting at the airfield.

During the drama, the governor telephoned local authorities in Cortez and requested the landing site "be outlined with automobile headlights and the runway marked with flares," the Rocky Mountain News said. Runway lights weren't all that common in 1940.

The rescue aircraft was most likely a newly delivered three-seat North American O-47 observation monoplane developed in the 1930s. Prior to 1940, the Colorado National Guard operated single-seat biplanes.

[Photo: Wikipedia]