Help Barry Replace His Stolen Scooter For Mobility
Barry, a much loved family man, evangelist and truck stop ministry chaplain, was doing ministry work last Friday, and when he was finished he put his scooter by his van to load it up.
When Barry was finished with conversation with other ministry workers he left to fulfill other commitments, forgetting to load up the scooter. (Barry deals with some memory issues due to his accidents.)
He went back as soon as he realized that he didn't have it, but it was gone! He checked with nearby businesses but it was nowhere to be found. He filed a police report. It is believed that the scooter is long gone.
Barry uses the scooter as a wheelchair - Pictured here with his service dog Lizzy.
A new scooter will cost about $900 and there will need to be modifications to it. Also there was about $150 worth of tools, two new action cameras (similar to GoPros) with accessories, gospel tracts and dog equipment in the cooler.
Barry lost his leg in 2012 due to complications from a motorcycle accident in 1996.
About the loss of his leg, Barry says,
"In 1996, I was in a motorcycle accident. A woman without a driver's license or insurance did not see me as I was waiting to exit a parking lot and she came up on me from behind and the bumper of her car crushed my foot between the gear shift and the foot peg. I was taken the St Francis ER in Beech Grove.
After several hours, that night they did surgery on my foot. There were some critical things they missed that prevented blood supply to most of the foot. Over the course of the next month, the pain only increased and the foot was dying from lack of blood supply. Eventually, I went to a new doctor.
The new doctor immediately scheduled me for surgery where they amputated the big toe and the first metatarsal. Other damage had already been done, though. I had very poor bone density throughout my foot. The length of the foot had shrunk significantly. I had frequent fractures in the foot just from walking. The pain was intense.
In 2006, I accepted the fact that my foot would never stop hurting nor would it support my walking so I had a mid-foot amputation. I was told at the time that this might work and if it does, that would be great, but if not, I would need to get a below the knee amputation. For about 6 months, the pain was a lot less intense. It was still constant but manageable.
After about six months, the intensity of the pain began to come back. It got back to the point that the only sleep I got was from passing out because of the pain and the sleep would end when the pain woke me.
In late 2010 I made the decision to have the below the knee amputation. In 2011, I had surgery on both wrists to prepare me to be able to use crutches. In 2012, I had the below the knee amputation. I still deal with pain but it is not near as intense nor is it constant 100% of the time like before.
Due to other injuries, I am not able to walk long distances or run at all. At the time of the motorcycle accident, the hospital overdosed me on morphine and my blood oxygen level was at critically low levels for several hours. When they discovered the problem, my blood oxygen level was 34. That has had a profound effect on memory as well as some other mental processes.
In August of 2018, I had 2 accidents (neither my fault) within 2 weeks of each other. Both caused concussions. As a result, I have severe balance issues as well."
Please pray with us that God will provide what is needed. As friends of Barry, we started this page to help him as he can not afford to get these items replaced.
Thank you for praying for Barry, his ministry, and for whatever you my be able to give to help him.
