Photo By Capt. Jason Carr | Jeremiah Potoczak officially sworn into the U.S. Air Force Reserves as a second...... read more read more
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NIAGARA FALLS AIR RESERVE STATION, NY- Ten-year-old Jeremiah Potoczak of West Seneca NY was sworn in as an honorary Second Lieutenant, part of the installations Airman for a Day program at Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, Feb 19, 2025.
This is the first tour hosted by the installation in four years since being paused due to the COVID-19 epidemic.
The United State Air Force Reserve’s 914th Refueling Wing and the New York Air National Guard’s 107th Attack Wing share the base, which was established in 1955.
The 914th flies the KC-135 Stratotanker air-to-air refueling plane, while the 107th flies the MQ-9 remotely piloted aircraft from a secured remote ground control station on base.
Jeremiah, along with his mother, Susan, got to see ‘behind the scenes’ into the careers of some of the Airmen stationed in Niagara, including a tour of the base Fire Department, one of 914th’s KC-135 Stratotankers, and a declassified version of the 107th’s MQ-9 training simulator.
“Jeremiah had a great time,” said Maj Jonathan Hoy, Chief of Operations for the 107th Ops Group. “He would have stayed in the SIM another four hours if we let him.”
The event was made possible thanks to the collaborative efforts of Michael McNulty, Nuclear Operations Manager for 914th Operations Support Squadron, and Alexa Dayka, Coordinator of Hospital programs with Stone’s Buddies, a program sponsored and supported through John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital in Buffalo, NY.
“I used to tutor at Children’s, and I organized with Ms. Dayka’s predecessor; we used to have a list of nearly 300 kids and families wanting to come to the base,” McNulty said.
“We used to do this twice a quarter, but after COVID hit, it all absolutely stopped,” he added.
Originally named Women’s and Children’s Hospital of Buffalo, the hospital was renamed to John R. Oishei Children’s Hospital, (locally, Oishei Children’s), after it received a $10 million donation in November 2017.
The hospital continues to specialize in pediatric medicine from infants to young adults up to age 21, as well as maternity services, since its founding in 1892.
According to their website, the Stone’s Buddies program works in support of the hospital’s pediatric patients with chronic illness or medical complexities. Offering various social and emotional support programs to both frequent patients and families, the programs goal is to serve as a bridge between patients, families, and those in the community who want to help.
“We have this application for anyone who might be interested in participating, and we try to match up events with the kids and families interests,” Dayka said. “We reached out to Jeremiah and his mom and they were ecstatic, they know a lot about the planes already, they really wanted this opportunity.”
When Jeremiah was five he received a positive diagnosis of a Chiari Malformation that, according to the Cleveland Clinic, is a structural abnormality of the skull that forces part of the brain to move into the spinal column, putting pressure on the brain and stopping the flow of spinal fluid.
Those affected can experience a range of symptoms, from headaches and dizziness, to vision problems, muscle weakness and hearing loss.
The condition affects 1 in every 1000 people in the United States and may be more common, however patients may be asymptomatic depending on severity.
In Jeremiah’s case, his case was so severe he required a six-and-a-half-hour long surgery to save his life.
“When the neurosurgeons came out of his surgery, they told us they had no idea how he was alive; he had practically no spinal fluid,” Susan said.
Thanks to the efforts of Dr. Renee Reynolds with Oishei, Jeremiah has since made a full recovery, but will still need to receive lifelong monitoring.
But you’d never had guessed any of that by the smile on Jeremiah’s face at the end of the day.
As he concluded his time at Niagara, Jeremiah only had one thing on his mind as he stepped off the KC-135, “I can’t wait to come back again.”
| Date Taken: | 02.27.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.27.2025 13:48 |
| Story ID: | 491687 |
| Location: | NIAGARA FALLS INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AIR RESERVE STATION, NEW YORK, US |
| Hometown: | WEST SENECA, NEW YORK, US |
| Web Views: | 263 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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