We got in the car with two wheelchairs folded in the back and we headed to Austin Street Center. We were about to give our friend Carl his new wheelchair!
The gates to their parking were opened for us, we parked, took the two new wheelchairs out of the car, and rolled them through the back of Austin Street Center into an open, empty room with a desk and a few vending machines.
Then we waited for Carl to arrive, these two new wheelchairs hidden behind a vending machine.
As Carl rolled around the corner in his fast, yet old-and-falling-apart wheelchair, we threw any surprise factor or fancy introduction out the window and just rolled the two new wheelchairs out of their hiding place for Carl to see.
You can insert a “starry eyed” emoji here to get some sort of picture of the expression on his face. He was happy. He was getting a new wheelchair and he had two to choose from.
“Which one would you like?” Stormy, our Community Advocate, asked him.
After some inspection, he decided he wanted to try out one of them. We helped him stand up, rolled the new one close to where he was, and switched out the old with the new. And he was sold!
He decided on that one—the classic black, cushioned armrests, bigger seated one over the smaller seated, navy blue one. Good choice, right? We helped him transfer his stuff over to his new wheelchair before his right hand grasped the clean black wheel to roll around the room! “I can’t think straight, I’m just so happy,” he said.
MORE OF CARL’S STORY
Nearly four years ago, Carl had an aneurism that left him unable to walk and with part of his skull missing. As we were visiting our friend Sam at Baylor Hospital in April of 2017, we met Carl and have had the privilege of getting to walk with him since.
Click on #careforcarl to read more about Carl’s story over the years! He’s come a long way!
Thank you to those who pray for us and our friends, who give their time to serve with us, and who give away two new wheelchairs because you felt called to help meet a need. Thank you!
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