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Lynn Gonzales
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The SCOOTER Store
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Power Scooter Donated To Disabled 80 Year Old Battling Heart Disease
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Dorothy Adams with her new scooter
Terre Haute, IN, April 3, 2007—After a 20-year battle with heart disease, Dorothy Adams was ready to give up and accept a life of physical inactivity. With the help of The SCOOTER Store and Fairygodmother Foundation®, Mrs. Adams is regaining her mobility and the freedom and independence that come with it.
Today, John Sennott, Mobility Manager of The SCOOTER Store's Indianapolis store, delivered a new power scooter to Mrs. Adams under The SCOOTER Store's Gift of Mobility program.
Mrs. Adams, 80, said a cardiologist has tried "everything known to man" to unclog her arteries, but nothing has completely done the job. Three stents were placed in her heart, allowing an adequate flow of blood to pump through her body. But the limited amount of oxygen she gets from the stents saps her physical strength. "I can't walk a quarter of a block without chest pains," Mrs. Adams said. "Going from being active to being stuck in a wheelchair, that's been the hardest part. Everything else I can handle, but losing my freedom has been the toughest."
She depends on her husband, Bob, to push her around their assisted-living facility in a manual wheelchair. His arthritis is getting progressively worse, though. "We looked at the future and decided we needed to do something right away," Mrs. Adams said.
So she contacted Fairygodmother Foundation, an organization that grants the wishes of terminally-ill adults. The charitable foundation reached out to form a partnership with The SCOOTER Store and its Gift of Mobility program.
"We are extremely happy for Mrs. Adams," said Mr. Doug Harrison, CEO and founder of The SCOOTER Store. "Now she will be able to go shopping, visit friends, and she tells us that she may now be able to fly to her grandson's June wedding in Kentucky. We started this program to help people like Mrs. Adams improve their quality of life. We are pleased to see that these gifts of mobility are achieving that goal."
Mr. Harrison and his wife, Susanna, started the Gift of Mobility program in December 2002. Since its inception, the outreach program has worked with organizations around the world to donate more than $200,000 per year in power wheelchairs, scooters and manual wheelchairs to community service organizations, enabling them to provide freedom, independence and personal integrity to individuals with limited mobility.
Founded in 1998, Fairygodmother Foundation, has granted hundreds of wishes in 47 states to adults with terminal illness.
"What we provide, with the help of the caring people who support us, is something that medicine cannot provide—a chance to create cherished memories," said Stevie Ball, CEO of Fairygodmother Foundation. "It is a very unique and powerful gift."
Wish recipients range from a man in his 20's battling leukemia, a mother of three in her 40's fighting breast cancer to disabled senior citizens like Mrs. Adams—who all want a second chance at an active life.
Clearly, their work, combined with donations such as the scooter from The SCOOTER Store, is making a big difference.
"It will be a new life," exclaimed Mrs. Adams, a former student financial aid advisor. "A great change. I'm looking forward to it."
Technorati Tags: power wheelchairs, scooters, The SCOOTER Store, power scooter
About The SCOOTER Store
Since 1991, The SCOOTER Store has helped provide freedom and independence to more than 300,000 people with limited mobility. The SCOOTER Store offers a full line of durable medical equipment, including power wheelchairs and scooters, lifts, ramps and accessories in 47 states. The SCOOTER Store has worked with more than 100,000 physicians, providing expertise and quality service to their patients, and is accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Health Care.
