Preston Call

Preston Call is a good friend and a co-worker of mine, Preston has Rheumatoid Arthritis and has been confined to a wheelchair for the past 10 years, he is 61 years old.

Preston is a very independent stuborn man and is far from a "taker" he has worked all his life and still does, even though he barely has the use of his hands and no longer has the use of his legs, this has not detered him at all. 

He worked for the Railroad in California as a master welder for 14 years, and one day in 1994 while repairing his mother's roof he fell off a ladder and was seriously injured.

While hopitalized for his injuries he was diagnosed with Rheumatiod Arthritis, he was never the same and he was unable to return to his railroad job.

Preston refused to accept this crippling disease and at first he would ues the walls and funiture in his house to get around, then a cane and finally in 2005 he was permanently confined to a wheel chair.

He moved to Las Vegas in 1998 and quickly found a job at a telephone call center where we both work. Preston has worked there for 16 years. The hours are part-time and Preston does not much very much money.

For two and a half years he used a conventional wheel chair to get around and finally a neighbor gave Preston an old electric wheelchair that he used to get back and forth to work, and I often saw him rolling down the sidewalk on his way to work from his home 3 miles away.

He would also use it to get to and from the supermarket ( about a mile away) as well as all his other errands. The temprature's in Las Vegas can be fluctuate between 110 degree's celcius in the summer and 40 degree's in the winter, this has never stopped him from getting to work on time. The only time he doesn't make it to work is when it rains.

Even though he could take a bus, he doesn't want to "inconvience" the other passengers or the busdriver who has to lower a ramp for him to be able to get on and off the bus, he says it takes too much time, and doesn't want the other passengers to be late for work!

About two months ago the old electric wheel chair broke down and he could no longer get around. Since then he has had no choice but to use his conventional wheel chair.

Fortunately I live close to Preston and I have been picking him up and dropping him off for work for the past two months, but it is extremely painful for him just to get in and out of my car.

I offered to take him to the supermarket, however as I said, he is a very independent and stubborn man, and most of the time he pushes and "scoots" his way on his own even though it takes him 45 minutes just to get there.

He finally agreed to call me if he needs a ride anywhere or if he ever gets in trouble and needs help, he has never called.

Preston does receive some Social Security disability payments but at this time he does not have the coverage he needs to get a new electric chair, he is in the process of applying for addition State and Federal assistance however this could take another 3-6 months before he can get a new chair. 

There are numerous used electric wheel chairs available on Craiglist, for as little as $500-$700, this is very cheap as a new one can cost over $5,000.

The purpose of this fundraiser is to raise between $500-$700 to at least get him mobile once again, so he can independently go about his daily business, and once I raise close to this amount this fundraiser will be closed.

Any and all donation for this very just cause would be greatly appreciated.

Thank You all very much.

Stephen Mitchell