Wheelchair ramp comes as surprise for man with CMT

[Guest guest]

Wheelchair ramp comes as surprise - Volunteers' project helps man

with muscular atrophy

By Zach Benoit Of The Gazette Staff

http://billingsgazette.net/articles/2008/10/26/news/local/24-

wheelchair.txt

Dwight Hodges, sporting a huge grin as about a dozen volunteers

scurried about his front yard while they built a ramp leading up to

his front door, sat in his wheelchair in the garage of his Lockwood

home

Hodges, who suffers from a peripheral nerve disease called peroneal

muscular atrophy, was the recipient of a project from the Lowe's

Heroes, a community volunteer program run by the national hardware

store. Volunteers from the local Lowe's arrived at his home, on

Nightingale Drive, at 9:30 a.m. Saturday, followed by a semi hauling

all the supplies needed to build two switchback wheelchair ramps and

a new storm door.

" This is great, " Hodges, 57, said. " It was such a surprise. "

He's usually the kind of person who makes things happen for himself -

especially when he's told he can't - but on Saturday, 24 volunteers

from Lowe's did all the work, and all he had to do was sit back and

watch. Ten years ago Hodges was diagnosed with peroneal muscular

atrophy, commonly called Charcot-Marie-Tooth disease. Similar to many

forms of muscular dystrophy,

the disease brings symptoms that include weakness in and atrophy of

muscles in the hands and lower legs or, as Hodges put it, " the more I

use the muscles, the more it takes them down. I can't rebuild muscle. "

As a child, Hodges watched his mother suffer from the same condition,

which is inherited, although he says he didn't know or realize it,

and it was never talked about in his family. As an adult, he started

displaying symptoms, but didn't think much of it.

" I've had it all my life, " he said. " But for a long time, I just

thought I was clumsy. "

Until his diagnosis in the late 1990s, Hodges had worked on a ranch

for 20 years. He tore the rotator cuff in each shoulder and could not

properly heal to return to work at full strength, eventually losing

his job in the process.

Through workers' compensation, which offered to pay for two years of

schooling, he began looking at attending college in 2000 to find a

new profession. He talked with a local vocational school, where he

says he was told he was too old, not educated enough and not trained

enough to succeed there.

" I was devastated, " Hodges said.

He spoke with his workers' comp representative, who recommended

Montana State University Billings. It was possible to get through

school there in two years, but it left little room for error for

Hodges. He couldn't repeat any classes and had to take extra courses

all year.

In 2002, after " going to school for 24 hours a day, " Hodges earned a

four-year bachelor's degree in information technology from MSUB in

just two years - with a 3.91 grade-point average.

He now works for the local Bureau of Reclamations office, where he

builds and maintains databases, helps with the Web site and assists

in training staff.

'No one's on the clock here'

The new ramps should be ready for use by the end of today, Lowe's

store manager Houret said. One ramp will lead to the front

door of the home Hodges shares with his wife, , and the other

will lead from a back door to a concrete patio. They are weather-

resistant and designed for year-round use.

The Lowe's Heroes program learned of Hodges through the local chapter

of the Muscular Dystrophy Association (MDA), which assists about 500

Montana families and recommended him as a candidate for the program.

They contacted him last month, took some measurements at his home and

determined the project was possible.

" He's just a delightful man, " MDA field representative Bernie Hagen-

Steffan said. " I think he cried when they told him they doing this

for him. "

The ramps are free of charge to Hodges, and all of the work is being

donated by Lowe's employees who volunteered to help on their days off.

" It's pure voluntary, " Houret said. " No one's on the clock here. The

nice thing is all I had to do was turn to my crew and let them know.

And now, look around, 23 people are here. "

Shirley Kieckbusch has worked at Lowes, 2717 King Ave. W., for eight

years, most recently in the paint department. As she dug up sod in

front of the house to clear space for the new ramp, she said her

reasons for coming out to help are very simple.

" We're just doing something for somebody that needs some help, "

Kieckbusch explained.

'It's overwhelming'

Until this summer, Hodges could get around without a wheelchair. In

July, he was temporarily paralyzed from what he believes was a drug

reaction, and has had trouble making a full recovery. So he has

started using an electric wheelchair to help with his movement.

Costs for medical care and treatment have been piling up, and having

the new ramps donated is a huge relief. In addition to a motorized

wheelchair, costing anywhere from $2,000 to $10,000, Hodges had to

buy a specially equipped van accessible by a motorized ramp, for

another $26,000.

He did not have ramps leading into his house and had to walk up and

down the stairs in the garage to get in or out, leaving his chair

outside. With the work from the Lowe's crew, he doesn't have to worry

about that anymore.

" I wasn't planning to be in a chair for another 10 years, " he

said. " But things change, and now this makes everything so much more

accessible. It's overwhelming. "