New Chair For Joey

Joey was paralyzed in a car accident 18 years ago. Initially that injury took only the use of his legs, but soon after, he developed a swelling in the spinal cord that took everything from the neck and down making him a quadriplegic. Through months of therapy he managed to gain the use of his hands and arms and was actually quite independent after that.
After about a year of adjusting to life in the seated position, he got back to work, school, met an amazing who never gave a second thought to his disability. They got married, bought a house, and were hoping for children. 
Just after finding a dream job as an advocate for people with disabilities in 2008, he developed an infection that deteriorated the bones of the vertebral column. We’ve been through 20+ unsuccessful surgeries since then and have sort of baffled doctors on how to stabilize the spine without introducing bacteria harboring hardware such as rods or screws. Joey also managed to crack one set of rods. Since he lost his income for a span of about 4 years he and his wife had to surrender their home and move in with family. Although this afforded him a great opportunity to spend time with his father before he suddenly passed in 2012, all of this left him very lost. 
He seemed to have forgotten how to live life.
He has been getting his mojo back slowly recently and have been working on getting back to some life experiences. In April of 2013, he came across Steve-o on Facebook who insisted that he get out of the house and come do Joey’s first 5K with him. That was the beginning.
He is now employed doing something he loves. Helping people with disabilities. He is part of an athletic organization for disabled sports and plays wheelchair basketball with the Freewheelers. 
As the loyal son of a Marine who has witnessed the effects of PTSD he has been drawn to events and races that support our military personnel and first responders. He dreams of using his disability to help newly injured people make sense of what they are going through. This chair will make that possible on many levels and I know for a fact that he is incredibly excited and humbled to have this support.
-Stephen Reid