Good Samaritans fix a wheelchair on the spot
When Michael Sulsona's wheelchair broke down while he was shopping at a home improvement store, four employees dropped everything to help.
Employees at a Lowe's home improvement store work on the wheelchair of Michael Sulsona, who sits watching nearby. Mr. Sulsona lost his legs serving in the Vietnam War. He likened his helpers to his fellow infantrymen in Vietnam: 'They had my back.'
Courtesy of Michael Sulsona
鈥淵ou鈥檙e not leaving until this wheelchair is like new.鈥�
Michael Sulsona of Graniteville, N.Y., hardly expected to hear such a statement on what had begun as a routine trip to a Lowe鈥檚 store July 7 to pick up materials to repair聽 fencing on his property.
But when his wheelchair 鈥� which had been riddled with broken parts for more than two years 鈥� suddenly broke in the home improvement store, a team of strangers told him just that and then jumped into action.
鈥淭hese three guys came out of nowhere,鈥� Mr. Sulsona says. 鈥淭hey just focused right on the wheelchair. They were so intent on taking the wheelchair apart.鈥�
Sulsona was with his wife in front of one of the store鈥檚 displays when a bolt, crucial to holding the wheelchair together, snapped 鈥� a problem he had become accustomed to over the course of two years as he waited for a replacement chair from the US Department of Veterans Affairs (VA).
Realizing that one of the wheels was on the verge of falling off, the couple asked an employee, Sal, for help in finding the right bolt to fix the chair. Sal called over fellow Lowe's employees David, Marcus, and Souleyman to help and then assisted Sulsona into a patio chair as they went to work fixing the chair.
鈥淪al says, 鈥榃e are going to fix this right here,鈥� 鈥� Sulsona recalled in a phone interview with 海角大神. Sal told him his own mother had been in a wheelchair for some 30 years, and that his father was a Vietnam War veteran like Sulsona.
While serving in Vietnam in 1971, Sulsona stepped on a land mine and lost both legs above the knee. He has been confined to a wheelchair since.
It took a while to find just the right bolt to fix Sulsona鈥檚 wheelchair, but 45 minutes after the store was supposed to close, the team of employees had followed through on their promise, and the chair was just like new.
鈥淚n half of the store, the lights were being turned off, and they were putting it together,鈥� Sulsona says. 鈥淭hey were just pulling stuff off the shelves ... they wouldn鈥檛 stop until the wheelchair got put back together.鈥�
Upon being presented with the repaired chair, Sulsona says, he thanked the four men. But they didn鈥檛 say "You鈥檙e welcome." Instead, he was told "it was our honor."
鈥淚 was so impressed about these guys stepping to the plate,鈥� Sulsona says. 鈥淚t was such a simple act, but it hit me like 鈥榯his is how it should be.鈥�
鈥淭hey didn鈥檛 ask permission to help, and they didn鈥檛 have to fill out a form. They didn鈥檛 have to make a phone call. They didn鈥檛 have to ask for permission from their manager. They just went ahead and did what they had to do.鈥�
After that night, Sulsona wrote a letter to a local newspaper to offer gratitude to the employees who, through a company spokesperson, have asked news media outlets for privacy and to remain out of the public spotlight.
Headlines about the spontaneous act of kindness have made it across the country and, Sulsona says, the world.
His intent in telling his story is not to disparage the time it has taken for the VA to replace his chair or to add to the criticism surrounding what he describes as an overburdened federal agency 鈥� in fact, he received a replacement wheelchair from the VA shortly after the incident 鈥� but rather to focus on the kindness of strangers.
鈥淚 hope that people ... take this story and use these guys for an example, in a bigger sense, of how we should live life,鈥� he says. 鈥淲e are our brother鈥檚 keeper.鈥�
Sulsona adds that he has received countless offers of assistance 鈥� from as near as New York to as far away as Guam 鈥� in the form of everything from cash to off-road wheelchair equipment.
鈥淓verybody is looking to donate and give me money,鈥� he says. But 鈥淚鈥檓 doing fine.鈥�
Sulsona encourages anyone wishing to help to support The Barry Fixler Foundation (http://www.fixlerfoundation.org), which has the mission of supporting wounded American veterans from the conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The actions of the Lowe's employees reminded Susona of why he and so many others have fought in the US armed forces, he says.
鈥淲e fought for the common man, and these guys in Lowe's were a pure example of the people we fought for,鈥� he says, for a moment likening them to his fellow infantrymen in Vietnam. 鈥淭hey had my back. They covered my back.鈥�