Ola Orekunrin was driven to make a necessary change when a tragedy struck her family. When her 12 year old sister was in need of immediate medical attention in Nigeria, she went to the nearest hospital but was unable to be treated there. They proceeded to call the air ambulance but since it was a few hours away, Ola’s sister had died by the time it got to her. Because of the anger and sadness within their family from this event, Ola started an emergency based air ambulance company called the Flying Doctors in the Nigerian city of Lagos.
Ola started the business by simply leasing aircraft and hiring pilots in order to keep costs down. The company now owns twenty aircraft and even employs seven if its own pilots. They were able to expand thanks to new partnerships with many hospitals throughout Nigeria. With the company’s rapid expansion, they are now looking to help citizens in many other ways including; improving medical care across the country, giving medical attention to the poor, and offering access for emergency evacuations in dangerous situations.
Ola was driven by her deep grief to start a business based on rapid medical attention. Through this business, she has displayed great work ethic and a desire to give people the basic needs they deserve to have. One of her early business partners said Ola was able to “think outside the box,” which is a huge part of becoming a successful entrepreneur. Overall, Ola is a great entrepreneur and even better inspiration.
This is absolutely amazing, nothing like using your own grief to help others.
What a wonderful business idea! I wonder how this model could be exported to other countries that suffer from the same lack of access? From the sounds of it, I think it could be replicated. What a revolutionary thing that could be. It would entirely change the face of medicine in the developing world.
This is a very inspiring idea! It is awesome to see stories like this when a young person overcomes a tragedy in their life to help others. It is also pretty cool that she was able to acquire all the tools necessary to start this business in an area that lacked these tools.
I love how Ola’s business stemmed from personal experience. Her sister’s death is extremely saddening; however, it’s the driving force/reason why she started the business to help others in the first place. I love that her idea can be used in a country of immense need, such as Nigeria.
I admire Ola’s courage and innovation. Ola used a personal tragedy, her sister’s death, as motivation to develop a service that will help prevent tragedies like this from happening in the future. I
This is a great example of an entrepreneur pursuing an idea based on a personal hardship. My roommate was born and raised in the city of Lagos, Nigeria, so this article was particularly interesting to me!