Sat, Nov 21 2009
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Published November 06, 2009 05:26 pm - Sid Davis has an odd talent. If you turn around, he’ll be able to guess your wheelchair size. Davis developed his talent while delivering the gift of mobility to people in Cancun, Mexico. He and several other members of the Joplin Rotary Club in April gave 240 wheelchairs to people in need. Local club raising money to buy wheelchairs for patients in Nassau, Bahamas By Joe Hadsall jhadsall@joplinglobe.com Sid Davis has an odd talent. If you turn around, he’ll be able to guess your wheelchair size. Davis developed his talent while delivering the gift of mobility to people in Cancun, Mexico. He and several other members of the Joplin Rotary Club in April gave 240 wheelchairs to people in need of them. The club joined with a Rotary Club in Springdale, Ark., in the effort, and the Joplin club plans to repeat that effort in Nassau, Bahamas. “The wheelchairs we are buying are heavy-duty, off-road models that are beefier and stronger and have bigger tires,” Davis said. “These can be pushed on the dirt tracks of life. Not everyone has paved roads in front of their house.” The club is working with the Rotary Club of East Nassau on the effort to purchase about 120 chairs, at a cost of $150 each. The club is wrapping up fundraising this month, and Davis said the club needs to raise about $4,500 more to meet its goal of purchasing 60 of the 120 chairs. The chairs will be ordered and delivered to Nassau in April 2010. Davis and others will travel to the English-speaking country and help fit chairs for their intended patients. When they arrive, Davis said they will find conditions similar to those in Cancun. “We picked a country with similar medical needs that weren’t getting met,” Davis said. During the Cancun trip last April, Davis said he spent a week working with a Cancun branch of the club. He delivered wheelchairs into people’s homes, which were everything from houses to thatched roof huts with galvanized tin for walls. The people who lived in the homes ranged from children to senior citizens, all who had lost their regular mobility from paralysis, injury or sickness. Some walked on crutches, others got around by crawling on the floor, Davis said. He recalled one man who pushed himself around in an office chair, similar to one found at desks in offices across the world. “He had a ramp from the front porch to the street that was at a 30- degree angle,” Davis said. “People had to push him up and down. He couldn’t do it by himself.” Mobility is a significant issue, Davis said, for the children and adults who lose it. The wheelchairs let kids be kids by allowing them to join and play. 
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