TroubleShooters: Car accident victim's wheelchair returned
ALDAN, Pa. (WPVI) -- Richard Rhodes of Aldan, Delaware County tells the Action News TroubleShooters he used to own a landscaping company but his life changed on April 8 2004.
"I turned around with a wheel barrel full of mulch and someone came speeding through the parking lot, ran me over, and just kept on going," said Rhodes.
Rhodes is now a paraplegic who suffers from a long list of other health problems.
The wheelchair he's in right now is not his and having to manually operate it is too taxing for his body, so Rhodes needs his power wheelchair.
Without it he says, "I'm just absolutely stranded. It feels like you're a prisoner in your own house."
So where is Rhodes' chair?
North Jersey-based Mr. Mobility has it and Rhodes can't seem to get it back.
While Rhodes got a rental wheelchair from Mr. Mobility back in August, he tells us that it broke after only two weeks.
"They're just ignoring anyone and everyone. Whoever it is, they're ignoring them," said Rhodes.
The Action News TroubleShooters refused to be ignored but we had to really persist.
We called Mr. Mobility and asked about Rhodes' wheelchair.
The woman who answered the phone said no one there wanted to talk to me. She refused to transfer me to a supervisor and she even hung up.
Then I contacted the attorney for the listed owner of Mr. Mobility and he told me I had to talk to someone else but that person never got back to me.
Finally after those calls were made, Rhodes himself got a call directly.
"I answered the phone and she said, "Your wheelchair will be coming back tomorrow. They have it here,' and she said, Oh, by the way, thanks for the free publicity" and hung up the phone so fast, it was unbelievable," said Rhodes.
Now Rhodes is even able to walk his dogs again.
"You're the greatest. If people don't realize the amount of help they're gonna get, I mean, it's the one way to get help really. It went three months and I couldn't get any help at all and once I called you, it was so fast, it was amazing. You really have been a wonderful help, believe me," said Rhodes.
If you need help with a problem visit 6abc.com/troubleshooters, email troubleshooters@abc.com, or through our Call for Action volunteers by calling 1-866-978-4232.
