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Today
is "Gimp Day" for Wes. Wes and his wheelchair buddies call
the anniversary of their accidents Gimp Day. While he was at Shake-A-Leg
last summer one of his Sacramento wheelchair friends had his anniversary
in July and that when he learned that it was called Gimp Day. They
all went out to have a drink. Feel free to celebrate Wes and his improvements
today (or any day).
Two years ago today, Wes crashed on a practice lap before the snowmobile
race in Yellowstone. He broke his neck and became a quadriplegic.
He was flown to Eastern Idaho Regional Medical Center in Idaho Falls,
ID. When we saw him in the emergency room he could only shrug his
shoulders. After 11 days he was flown to Santa Clara Valley Medical
Center in San Jose, CA. He left the hospital on June 8, 2006.
Last summer he went to a camp called Shake-A-Leg in Newport, Rhode
Island. It was a 4 week camp helped to develop Wes' physical, mental
and emotional skills necessary to set and meet realistic life goals
and maximize his potential for independent living. He came home a
different person. Ready to get on with his life. He applied to college,
signed up for quad wheelchair rugby at the community college in Sacramento
and ordered a manual wheelchair.
Last November 2007. Wes got accepted to the University of AZ. It is
one of the best handicapped colleges in the U.S. He also met some
of the people who go there from Shake-A-Leg. He lives in the dorm
on campus. He has personal care attendants (PCA) who get him up in
the morning and give him a shower, one in the afternoon who gets him
dinner, helps with homework, does laundry and anything else that he
needs, then he has another PCA who puts him to bed. He has a credit
card that he scans at the dorm entrance to let him in and then he
has a garage door opener that he learned to use his finger to open
his room door. He watches the quad rugby team and will join the team
when he gets a rugby chair that fits him. He applied for a rugby wheelchair
grant and should know by April. There is a Disabled Resource Center
at the college that has a gym, and wheelchair repair shop. It also
has a room where he takes his tests and a computer room that he can
use anytime with aids to help him.
He uses the Dragon Naturally Speaking voice activated computer program
for emails, letters and homework. He has note takers in his classes
and has met many friends at school all willing to help him in any
way. Wes uses his power wheelchair most days because he can get to
class a lot faster. On weekends he practices with his manual wheelchair.
It takes him 50 minutes to get to one of his classes, then he rests
and it takes another 50 minutes to get back to the dorm.
Wes has come a long way since his accident and has improved so much.
We thank all of you for your continued support and prayers.
Eric, Sandy, Wes and Kristine Ward |
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