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4 ‘Local Heroes’ vie for handicapped accessible vehicles
NILES
Kim McGann and her daughter, Mindy, face their challenges by relying on each other.
Now they need help from the public to overcome their latest hurdle.
Mindy, a 17-year-old Niles McKinley High School honor-roll student, has cerebral palsy and a seizure disorder. Her mom gets her around in an aging vehicle with a heavy, collapsible wheelchair ramp.
Mindy and three other local people are vying to win one of three accessible vehicles being awarded by the National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association, a nonprofit group that advocates for the disabled.
The contest is part of National Mobility Awareness Month, which is May. Sponsors team up each year to give “Local Heroes” in the U.S. and Canada a chance to win a vehicle and adaptive equipment to make life easier.
Other “Local Heroes” in the running are: Tommy Morris, 33, of Youngstown, who has cerebral palsy; Kathie Bates, 52, of Hermitage, Pa., who was paralyzed in a car accident; and David Brys, of Cortland, a retired physician.
“Winning this contest would be life-changing,” Kim said. “It’s so hard to get her around, especially as she gets older.”
As a single parent, Kim said Mindy’s care falls to her and can be challenging since they have a 2001 van with 205,000 miles on it.
Kim became a foster parent to Mindy at birth and adopted her in 2002. She called Mindy her “sunshine” and said she’s enriched her life in ways that can’t be measured.
“People always say that because she is disabled, she is lucky to have me,” Kim said. “I don’t feel that way at all. I’m lucky to have her.”
Bates, meanwhile, said winning an accessible vehicle would allow her to attend more family functions and school and Scouting events with her grandchildren.
“It would mean freedom,” she said. “It would mean so much.”
Bates lives with family and doesn’t have an accessible vehicle. To leave the house, family members lift Bates into a truck and put her wheelchair in the back.
Bates was left a quadriplegic after a 1990 car accident. She has seven grandchildren and four children, one who died in 2008.
She said a new vehicle would allow her to visit his grave in a Kinsman cemetery for the first time.
As a retired orthopedic surgeon and quadriplegic, Dr. Brys said he understands the limitations disabled folks face every day.
From the lack of available parking spaces to inadequate accessibility in public spaces, Dr. Brys said he will continue to fight for more awareness.
He was paralyzed 12 years ago in a motorcycle accident in Trumbull County. Winning a new, accessible vehicle would be a big deal since he relies on one that’s 10 years old and has issues with transmission and doors.
Though the accident cost him his career, Dr. Brys said he has a dream to open an osteoporosis clinic one day and credits the accident with improving his faith in God.
“Being a physician, I’ve always been an advocate for the disabled,” Dr. ùBrys said. “Now that I’m on the other side of it, I’m trying to promote even better awareness.”
Voting ends Tuesday. To cast a vote, go to www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/local-heroes/.