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FREE WHEELCHAIR MISSION CROSSES COUNTRY

Arizona Republic
Lisa N
Sarah Sevier
Jun. 8, 2007 04:57 PM

"You can tell he's been a crawler for years and look at his knees, you can tell he's been using his upper extremities and dragging his knees," said Dr. Michael Bayer of Free Wheel Chair Mission.

Dr. Bayer points to pictures plasted on his R.V. They explain what he sees when he gives wheelchairs to disabled people in developing countries.

He points a photo of a young boy in a wheelchair.

"He was lying on the ground and he was looking at people shoe's and lower extremities. Once you pick someone up off the ground you restore human dignity immediately."

By bike, and R.V., Free Wheelchair Mission has traveled from New York to Tempe, and soon onto Southern California. Mile by mile, raising money to build durable, inexpensive wheelchairs.

A solution for less than $45 dollars a chair. Dr. Bayer says 70% of people who receive wheelchairs are bedridden.

"There's another 20% who live on the ground, because they're too poor to even afford a bed, 10 percent of those can crawl on the ground and that's their form of mobility. They'll put shoes on their hands to protect themselves and drag their paralyzed legs behind them."

Every dollar can mean the difference between life and death, for people waiting decades for a wheelchair.

 

 


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