In 1995 Chris was in a motorcycle accident that left him without his right arm and leg. His doctors assumed that he was going to die, and basically just cleaned him up for his family to say their goodbyes. His arm and leg were brought into the hospital in an ice chest, they had been cut clean from his body. His doctors didn’t even attempt to save his extremities and therein lies the root of most of Chris’s problems. Chris was in a coma for about a month. Before the accident Chris was a chef, but without an arm, and not being able to stand, completely killed his chances of continuing. The doctor’s fitted Chris with prosthetics and at the time of the accident these were outdated, so you can only imagine how hard it was to learn to use these. Plus because of his above joint amputations, the prosthetics were overly large, and very heavy because of the added joints and caused more pain than Chris could stand.
Chris was briefly on disability until he started working full time.
In 1998 Chris started working at Lamar University and quickly moved up the Information Technologies chain. Luckily for him cooking wasn’t his only talent, he also knows quite a bit about computers.
Chris and I met through work, and also had a few mutual friends. I was always afraid I would say or do something stupid around him that could possibly offend or hurt him. Boy was I wrong. It seemed like he had no limitations. I was very surprised to find that Chris’s apartment had no renovations to cater to his disability. His front and back doors were barely wide enough to allow his wheelchair to fit. His bathroom door didn’t even come close. I was shocked to learn that Chris had to move from his wheelchair onto a stool that he had to scoot across the floor on, just to get to the toilet!
The first time Chris cooked for me, I was amazed. I couldn’t believe that he was so self-sufficient. He cooked the whole meal, and did the dishes (what a guy, am I right?). I quickly fell for this loud and goofy guy, and he fell for me too.
A few months after moving in together, I awoke to a crash in the bathroom. His front right wheel broke completely off of his wheelchair. At that moment, Chris was completely immobile. I had to help him get out of the bathroom. We spent over an hour on the phone fighting with the insurance company to try to get someone to repair his chair. When the repairman finally arrived, it was empty handed. He had no parts and couldn’t even find the wheels that Chris needed. A few hours later, he returned with outdated wheels that didn’t match the style of the precious wheels on the wheelchair. This forced Chris to not only have to pay $200 dollars to replace the wheels, but to also re-learn how to steer his wheelchair. It took him a few days, but he eventually got the hang of it.
At this point, we understood just how important it was to get a new wheelchair. Chris spent about six weeks working with his insurance company to replace it. They wheeled and dealed and finally Chris had to settle for something less than what would be the best option, but it would at least be in better condition and probably hold up better than what he has now. The day finally came when they stopped by to take the last measurements for his wheelchair. They would deliver it in two weeks. It probably seems pretty silly to be so excited about a wheelchair, but we were ecstatic. Then three days later, the other shoe dropped. Chris would have to pay about $1000 in order to receive his wheelchair.
Well, Chris and I were already hard pressed to make ends meet. I only worked part time and we just didn’t have the money to spend. Chris tried to get a loan, but it just didn’t work out for us.
In August 2011 we visited Austin. It was Chris’s first time, I had already been several times and just couldn’t make him understand how amazing it was. We spent 3 days here, and then decided we wanted to stay forever. We found an apartment, went back to Beaumont and settled our affairs.
Chris applied and had a pretty promising job opportunity that encouraged us to move as quickly as possible. We were so excited to get to Austin. We arrived, moved in, and got settled. When Chris went in for his final interview, he heard one of the many excuses that he would receive in the next 5 months. “We have decided to go in a different direction.”
Chris didn’t give up. He kept applying and interviewing. The same thing kept happening. His phone interviews would go fantastic, but after meeting and seeing Chris in a wheelchair, for some reason it went downhill. About 27 job interviews, and Chris kept hearing every excuse from “You are just over-qualified, Mr. Dubay,” to actually not even receiving a phone call or letter. About 80% of these jobs have been re-posted.
We were forced at the beginning of March to apply for Disability/SSI. Chris has always prided himself on being self-sufficient. He did not want to make this decision, and we practically waited until the last minute. Chris would rather not rely on the government for monthly handouts, but at this point we have no choice. He wants a job. He wants to work for a living, and we would much rather be able to pay for a wheelchair on our own.
In December, Chris proposed. Lately we have been talking about having a child, and it is definitely something we want to do. But as long as he is on Disability, we will not create another burden on the system. Chris is already apprehensive about fathering a child because he knows that there will be many things he won’t physically be able to do. This wheelchair is a step in the right direction.
I’m not saying that getting Chris a new wheelchair will get him a job, but it might improve his chances, and it will definitely improve his quality of life. This wheelchair is designed to give Chris a better workout than his current wheelchair, and will allow for him to go places we are too worried for him to traverse now (ie, unpaved areas or parks). We are also hoping this will allow him to build up the stamina to use a prosthetic leg. While having a reliable wheelchair is important, he is still very limited to the places he can visit. More than once we have showed up and realized his wheelchair wouldn’t fit through the door, or that the event we were trying to attend was upstairs, and completely unreachable to Chris.
Even if you cannot make a donation, we are asking you to pass this on to your family and friends. We are putting faith in the kindness of strangers and have already received more than we thought possible. We are definitely lucky to have such amazing friends, and such a great network of people helping to make this attainable. You can’t imagine how grateful we are already, and how grateful we will be if we do make our goal. Thanks in advance for helping to improve our lives.
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