Donna was a woman who greatly valued her independence and was very willing to fight for it. Born in Louisville with cerebral palsy that resulted in very significant physical limitations, she grew up in a sheltered home environment. As she entered adulthood, however, she became very interested in disability advocacy and got involved in the fight for accessible mass transportation in the 1980s. After the Americans with Disabilities Act made accessible transportation the law, she continued her personal fight for her own independence. Eventually, with the help of family and friends, she became a homeowner, a very rare occurrence for someone with her significant disabilities and limited income. With assistance and support, she managed to live in her own home for many years.
As she aged, her family aged with her and she started to lose the people she relied on for support. Eventually, she became unable to arrange and afford enough personal care assistance to maintain her independent living situation. She was faced with the necessity of moving into a nursing home where she could be certain to have around the clock care.
After a few years in the nursing home, her power wheelchair started to become unreliable, often breaking down. She once went months without a functioning wheelchair, her only means of mobility. She needed a new wheelchair, but, when she entered the nursing home, she had to turn over all of her resources to the facility. She could not afford a new wheelchair and the nursing home would not provide her with one. Her life became more restricted and her lack of mobility became a major problem.
Milton Tyree, a long-time friend, had reconnected with Donna sometime after she had moved into the nursing home. He would occasionally help her with things she needed. Knowing her need for a different wheelchair, he contacted Chris Mattingly at the Center for Accessible Living (CAL) in the early summer of 2025 to see if the Center could provide any assistance. In the last year, CAL had become an assistive technology resource center (ATRC) for the KATS Network. CAL named its ATRC CALTech. As part of the KATS Network, CALTech became a site for Project CARAT, the KATS Network’s system of accepting gently used assistive technology, refurbishing it, and providing it to individuals with disabilities who needed it, free of charge. As such, CALTech had a small number of power wheelchairs. With the assistance of CALTech staff member, Robb Caldwell, Milton and Chris inspected the limited stock and identified a wheelchair that might work for Donna.
The problem now became how to get the selected wheelchair to Donna. It was too large to be transported by any vehicle readily available to Milton or the staff of CAL. At this point, Mattingly Edge came to the rescue. Mattingly Edge is a non-profit organization that enables “people with disabilities to thrive at work, at home, and in relationships.” Milton knew Mattingly Edge had a wheelchair accessible van and contacted the agency to see if they could help. Mattingly Edge was glad to assist and allowed Milton to borrow the van. He picked up the van and delivered wheelchair to the nursing home.
Neither Milton nor Chris had any background in fitting wheelchairs for individuals with disabilities. The question now became how to ensure that this particular chair was adequate for the Donna’s medical and physical needs. It was time to call in another collaborator, Ryan Creech from the Human Development Institute at the University of Kentucky. Ryan, a wheelchair userhimself, was a trained rehabilitation technology specialist. He agreed to help, but he lived in Southeastern Kentuckyand Donna, the wheelchair, and the nursing home were in Louisville. Ryan accessed the situation as best he could via pictures and video. Ryan thought the wheelchair could work for Donna, although the footrest did not fit her. Larry Weishaar, a friend of Milton’s from church (Springdale Presbyterian), used a drawing from Ryan to make a really neatfootrest adjustment (pictured at right). Donna loved the wheelchair and began using it.
Yet another problem quickly presented itself. For medical reasons, Donnaneeded a wheelchair that would adjust to enable her to lay prone several times during the day. This would relief pressure from parts of her body. The used wheelchair she was given was adjustable, but it could not lay her back far enough. Ryan determined that model of wheelchair could not be altered to meet her needs. Although she continued to use it, it would not suffice as a permanent solution. The search for an adequate wheelchair for Donna started anew.
Call it luck or providence or whatever else you want, but a new solution was right around the corner. As it so happened, a friend of Milton’s, Tony Carmack, was getting a new wheelchair. His old wheelchair was still very much usable. Ryan Creech was again consulted. As Tony was also a friend of his, he knew of the wheelchair in question. He described it as a ‘Cadillac’ of wheelchairs. It could adjust to meet Donna’s needs. He also knew that Tony kept very good care of his equipment. He heartily endorsed the wheelchair for Donna’s use. But Tony lived in Lexington. The issue again became transportation – how to get the wheelchair to Donna. Ryan decided he was due for a trip to Louisville and volunteered to bring the wheelchair along.
In late August, Ryan took the wheelchair to Donna’s nursing home. Kevin Kolakowski, the Regional Sales Manager of Permobil, met him there to assist in fitting the wheelchair for Donna. The results were perfect. Donna now had the “Cadillac” of wheelchairs. She was overjoyed. Below she is pictured in her new (to her) wheelchair with Ryan and Kevin.
As it so happens, Donna’s roommate at the nursing home, Wanda, was also finding her current wheelchair to be inadequate. She did not need the ability to recline in a wheelchair like Donna did. The wheelchair that Donna had gotten from Project CARAT that was not adequate for her was more than adequate for Wanda.
As Milton said at the end of this wheelchair odyssey, “What a wonderful example of generosity, skill, and caring — making a tremendous difference in Donna’s life.” And now, in Wanda’s,
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