The Suffering of Rich

Many of the stories that you see in the rehab wards will bring tears to your eyes. The story of Rich moved me in special ways. I was sent to talk to him because I had tested the power assist set of wheels were my wheelchair. I found them useful but probably not worth the cost since I would only use them for a few instances. One of the therapists told me that there was a patient who had a pair of power wheels he was willing to sell. A few days later I looked him up and discovered that not only was he selling the power wheels but an entire second wheelchair. At this point the offer was too good to refuse and so I went to talk to him.

He was a nice man, neat and well composed in a newer power wheelchair. He explained that he had lost strength in his left side and was no longer able to manage a manual wheelchair. As the conversation progressed it was clear that the problem was much more serious. Rich was a patient with multiple sclerosis and had begun using a wheelchair as his peripheral nerves slowly failed. However, about two months ago a terrible thing happened. He was in his driveway using a gas powered leaf blower when the device exploded showering him with burning gasoline. He is alive today only because his wife heard the explosion or perhaps his screams and quickly doused the fire by covering him with a blanket. Even so he had severe burns over much of his body. I could see the scars on his arms but his legs, he showed me, were much much worse and were nothing more than scar tissue over most of the surface.

He has been in the hospital for about sixty days since the accident almost all of that time being spent in the ICU and the burn wards. Only within the past week or two has he been considered well enough to come to the rehabilitation Ward and work on adjusting to returning to the world.

I can only imagine what he must have suffered during those months in the burn ward. He told me stories about stapling a dressing to his legs and how as the legs healed they had to pull all of the staples from his legs.

Having to live with a diagnosis and the steady progression of multiple sclerosis is bad enough but to have to deal with a major burn on top of it is more than a human should be asked to endure.

Still as I chat with him I am impressed with his cheer, his determination and his will. Rich is not a man to let misfortune drive him down. He as almost bubbling with enthusiasm and a drive to enjoy life no matter what it may throw at him.