47 Year Old Man With Multiple Disabilities Seeks Grant For Sports Wheelchair

by Thomas Keven Arthur
(Lake Geneva, Wisconsin, USA)

My name is Thomas Arthur. I'm a 47-year-old male, married with two kids.

I was diagnosed with diabetes 17 years ago. For the last three I have been giving myself three hundred shots per month, which hasn't halted the devastation.

I have always been a person who enjoyed the outdoors. Activities such as hiking, camping, canoeing and the like are my passions.

About three years ago I was diagnosed with Femoral Neuropathy on top of the diagnoses of Peripheral neuropathy.

I was granted SSD almost right away, but because I can still technically walk and get around the home I don't qualify for a wheelchair.

I think the thing that bothers me the most is that I'm no longer able to go for walks with my wife.

I can no longer go shopping either. After walking five to ten feet, I have to lie down on the ground and wait for the pain and the muscles and tendons to recover.

I love life and I'm trapped because of this condition. I would use the grant to buy a lightweight sports wheelchair, which would greatly improve the quality of not only my life, but my family's as well. Our lives are in a state of limbo.

My beautiful wife has MS so she isn't able to work. I realize that these types of wheelchairs are expensive but without one I have no hope of being active again.

Thanks for listening and for pointing us to any help that might be available.