Restore Duane’s Mobility and help Betty's Recovery

December 16, 2024, changed the Nichols family's lives forever! It was a typical Monday morning as I, Betty, a teacher in my 29th year of teaching, was heading to school when a careless driver cut in front of me and totaled our family’s wheelchair van. The wheelchair van is required for my husband Duane, who is a hemiplegic stroke victim that is wheelchair-bound. Prior to getting the van in 2022, Duane had been unable to leave our house for over eight months because of his decreased mobility. And now he’s back to being a prisoner in our home again as it’s been over four months since the accident and he hasn’t been able to leave the house even once.

Not only was our wheelchair van totaled, but I suffered severe knee injuries and lumbar spine vertebrae damage that has left me in disabling pain and limited mobility. Being a teacher is hard enough, but trying to walk around the classroom and help my first-grade students while being in such excruciating pain may end up bringing an end to my entire teaching career.

The worst part about the accident, ironically, is the insurance. Since the careless driver who hit me was underinsured, we are having to use my insurance, which on a teacher's salary is rather limited, and the coverages are quickly becoming maxed out. The property damage estimate valued the wheelchair van as a regular minivan and actually deducted value because of the missing middle row of seats that were removed to leave room for the ramp and wheelchair. Despite providing proof of the modifications that were done to the van and comparable prices of similar wheelchair vans, our insurance left us still owing over $3,000 on a totaled van that we will never be able to use again. My bodily injury and medical coverage has paid for the X-rays, MRIs, doctor appointments, physical therapy, and treatments so far, but that coverage is quickly becoming depleted. We ended up hiring a lawyer to recover the cost, assuming that we would be able to get enough to cover my medical bills and get a new wheelchair van. But because the careless driver had such low coverage, we might be lucky to get a couple of thousand dollars when all is said and done, which would have to go to any future medical bills because the insurance isn’t going to be able to pay for any more. And that leaves us back at square one with no wheelchair van. 

We are fundraising to cover the costs of a new wheelchair van and ongoing medical expenses. This fundraiser is for Duane, who is a hemiplegic stroke victim, and Betty, who has suffered severe injuries from the accident.

Any and all help would be appreciated. Please feel free to share our story as we hope, and desperately need, to reach our goal!