Sheen pays for injured teen’s therapy dog

Associated Press

MILWAUKEE

There’s a 15-year-old Florida girl who didn’t really know much about Charlie Sheen before this week — but she does now.

The actor wired $10,000 to Teagan Marti and her family Thursday for a therapy dog to help in her rehabilitation from injuries sustained when she plummeted 100 feet from a Wisconsin amusement-park ride in 2010.

“I think he’s a very kind person for helping me and my family and very generous,” Teagan said by phone Thursday from her home in Parkland, Fla.

Teagan suffered brain, spine, pelvis and internal injuries in July 2010 when nets and air bags that were supposed to catch riders on a free-fall ride were not raised. She had convinced her family to make the trip from Florida to Extreme World in Wisconsin Dells after seeing the amusement park’s Terminal Velocity ride on the Travel Channel.

She was hospitalized in Wisconsin and Florida for three months.

Teagan’s mother, Julie Marti, said they are financially in trouble from the medical bills and her recent divorce. Their house is being foreclosed upon and insurance isn’t covering physical therapy anymore, she said. She had no idea how they would pay for the English Golden Retriever puppy.

Lucia Wilgus, of Eau Claire, became friends with the Martis after hearing of the accident. She sent a letter this week to Sheen through Sheen’s godfather, who is a Wilgus family friend and Benedictine brother in the Benet Lake, Wis. She estimated the training and related costs would be around $6,000.