Middlesex County Woman Lives To Help Amputee Survivors

WOODBRIDGE, NJ — You may not know that April is Limb Loss and Limb Difference Awareness Month.

And on April 20, this Monroe Township woman will host a walk in Alvin P. Williams Memorial Park in Woodbridge:

Lydia Gray is an amputee survivor and prior walks she's organized have raised more than $30,000 to support amputees in need of financial assistance or adaptive equipment.

The event usually draws around 100 participants. Those interested in participating in the April 20 walk can register here.

Born in poverty in Sierra Leone and orphaned at 11, Gray immigrated to America in her early 20s. She was hired right away at Rutgers University, first as a dishwasher, then as a security guard. She used the opportunity to also get her American college degree: She worked nights as a security guard at Rutgers, and studied and took classes during the day.

Three decades later, Gray had earned both a bachelor’s and master’s degree, and also got married to her husband. By that point, she had risen to become an audit administrator for Rutgers, but was actually about to quit that job to embark on a new chapter as an entrepreneur. She invested a large chunk of her savings into launching a small business making and marketing chin-chin, a traditional West African fried pastry.

But just when her dream seemed within reach, Gray lost her left hand on March 5, 2020: It happened during a horrific accident in which a packaging machine malfunctioned in her new commercial kitchen.

No stranger to hard times, Gray had always faced adversity with her trademark smile and positive attitude. But after suffering this physical and financial loss as the COVID pandemic closed in, she found herself in a very dark place.

“I was despondent. I was in a daze,’’ said Gray. “I was wondering, how am I going to approach life again with one hand?”

During the pandemic, Gray did a lot of grieving and a lot of walking. At first, her thoughts swirled around how she and her husband could cover the $25,000 co-pay for her new prosthetic hand, and whether she would be able to return to work at Rutgers. After being fitted for her new hand, her thoughts shifted to the hardships of others.

“I thought to myself, ‘How about the ones who don’t have any kind of insurance at all or have no means to pay for a prosthetic? How are they making it?” she said. “They have so much adversity in their lives and you find them on the streets homeless. How I can I help them?”

That drive to help others pulled Gray back from the brink. She founded the nonprofit Lydia Amputees Foundation, and hosted her first Lydia 5K Walk for Amputees and Individuals With Disabilities. This April marks her fourth walk at Alvin Williams Memorial Park in Woodbridge.

Since founding her nonprofit, Gray has helped at least 30 amputees locally, nationally and in Sierra Leone. Some find her through family, word of mouth or Facebook. One who found her through Facebook was a man from Illinois who lost a leg and asked her for an adaptive bicycle so he can pick up his granddaughter from her school bus stop and run errands.

Others Gray has crossed paths with in person, like the mother of four in New Brunswick who lost all four limbs to a flesh infection and needs help living in a one-bedroom apartment.

For Gray, it’s not just about sending a check. Whenever possible, she visits with the amputees she assists, because she knows a friendly face and sympathetic ear can lift someone’s spirits. She drove up to Massachusetts one weekend to hand-deliver a $1,000 check to a double-leg amputee facing eviction, and she regularly visits with amputees in a Trenton nursing home, hosting annual holiday parties and dropping off necessities such as clothes, wheelchairs and handicapped commodes.

Her Rutgers colleagues are inspired by her ability to turn personal tragedy into a triumph, said senior auditor John Makropoulos, who has worked alongside her for more than a decade in Rutgers Audit and Advisory Services, where she's now back at work.

“She’s always smiling. She spreads her happiness and is just a hard worker and a pleasure to be around,” he said. “She is an amazing resilient woman. I don’t think she could have handled things any better. If you didn’t know her before, you wouldn’t have known she lost a hand. That is how positive she is. That’s how strong she is.”

Said Gray:

“That’s the reason why I want to continue to live, so I can help others. I want to make a difference in the life of anybody I come across in need. So many of them are suffering right now. I just want to make sure they are cared for. This is my passion.”

This article was written and submitted by Lisa Intrabartola/Rutgers University Communications and Marketing