Lee has his eye on friendly skies
|
But if you ask Warren County High School senior Joey Lee about his career choice, he might tell you it’s up in the air. Literally. You see, Joey has chosen a rather unusual career path: He wants to pilot LifeFlight helicopters.
Of course this is not too surprising once you talk to him. He is, in fact, combining his love of flying, along with a desire to help others and save lives, into a career that seems tailor-made for this community-conscious young man.
Even though he is only 17, Lee has been involved in community service for quite a while. He is currently the lifeguard instructor at Gilley Pool and has been serving on the board of directors of the local Red Cross chapter since he was 15.
Lee, who is the son of Rick and Leslie Hayes, credits his grandfather, Solon Hayes, and Bill Gilley for guiding him and encouraging him to volunteer.
“My interest in community service started with my grandpa. He was a captain for the McMinnville Fire Department,” Lee said. “He retired after 32 years. I used to go sit with him, and I thought, ‘Wow, this is kind of cool.’ And then I met Bill Gilley, and Bill was the catalyst for getting me involved in these different things. He started out allowing me to help teach swimming lessons, and then I moved on to the board of directors and started doing other things. Most recently I’ve become the county lifeguard instructor. So I credit him for most of it.”
Gilley obviously saw some potential there despite Lee’s youth, and gave him an early start.
“I was real young,” he said. “I was about 12 at the time, but he let me help anyway.” Lee went on to get his lifeguard certification and from there to his instructor certification, which led to his current position as the youngest lifeguard instructor ever at the pool named in honor of his mentor.
Parks and Recreation director Carlene Brown has been impressed with her young employee as well.
“He’s the kind of lifeguard you want your whole pool filled up with,” Brown said. “He shares his enthusiasm, and it’s so sincere that it grows on others. He has a love for it.”
His love affair with flying came early on as well.
“It’s a big joke in my family,” Lee said. “They say ever since I could talk I always wanted to be a pilot. I took my first airplane ride when I was 7, and I’ve been hooked ever since.”
The burgeoning flyer took lessons, got his license and finally took his first solo flight Feb. 20 of this year. He flies out of Wings of Eagles in Smyrna, Tenn., and his current aircraft of choice is a sleek, white Diamond DA20-C1.
Lee plans to attend MTSU after graduation with a major in aviation, and once he receives his degree says he will begin work on achieving his goal of piloting LifeFlight helicopters.
But no matter how he spends his work day, Lee says volunteering will always be an important part of his life.
“It’s real fulfilling,” he said. “Not just on a personal level. It’s great to be able to give back to the community that’s given you so much. You’re only given so much time on earth. You need to get up in the morning and say you’re doing something with your life. You’re making a difference.”
Still, Lee is quick to give much of the credit to those who have done so much to influence him.
“I’ve had good people supporting me in just about everything I’ve done,” he says. “It hasn’t been a one-man show by any stretch.”
Some of his biggest supporters, of course, have been his family, mom Leslie, dad Rick and younger sister Cora, who obviously feel the same about him.
“He’s a good kid,” says his understandably proud mom. “I’ve been blessed.”