Two Creekers Need Votes for 'Hero' Status

Two Goose Creek residents are reaching out for votes to help them become Local Heroes during Mobility Awareness Month.

Gene Reese and Rob Duckworth are separately vying for top honors in the national competition. National Mobility Equipment Dealers Association asks those with limited mobility share their stories for a chance to win a vehicle to help them get around. 

Visit MobilityAwarenessMonth.com to vote. Winners will be announced the last week of May 2013. Three national winners were selected in 2012. People can vote only once per day. 

Reese has more than 1,800 votes as of Sunday afternoon.

Here is Reese's biography:

My name is Gene W. Reese and I am a 56 year old man that became disabled 20 years ago. I am married with 5 adult children and I live in Goose Creek, South Carolina. I have worked hard all of my life and was the bread winner for my family when I was able to work. Back in March of 1992, I was involved in a head-on collision where I was hit by a drunk driver coming home from work one late night. That life threatening accident severed the artery to my heart and severely damaged my spine leaving me as a T10 Paraplegic. I have lived since then with this disability.

My Disability: Now living as a paraplegic I had to adjust every aspect of my life. Home, family, church and community living instantly changed. From a wheelchair it’s been very hard but I make it work. With Social Security Income as my family’s only income it pays the bills and keeps the lights on. I have osteomalytis and have had to have a skin graft done to fix a dangerous pressure sore at the strodum.

Community Involvement: Although my car accident completely changed my life, I didn’t let that impact my well being. I have still strived to have a positive impact to all of those around me even though I am bound to a wheelchair. I am one of the leaders in my church where all my spiritual strength comes. We have been able to touch many lives at our little Church (Ashley Missionary Baptist Church) in North Charleston.

I also volunteer many spare time hours per week at the Independent Living Center Disability Resource Center (ilC DRC) of North Charleston, South Carolina. I am a volunteer AT Technician at the DRC where I repair wheelchairs and durable medical equipment that is donated to the organization. We take used medical equipment that is repairable and ensure it gets recycled back into the community to those who are in need all at no cost. I frequently deliver equipment to those in need all over the Tri-County areas. I am very proud of all of the accomplishments I have been able to do at DRC and the lives that have benefitted from me being there because there are not many people who will volunteer their time to help another less fortunate person.

Click here to vote for Gene Reese.

Duckworth has more than 700 votes as of Sunday afternoon.

Here is his nomination:

I nominate Rob Duckworth as our local hero in Charleston, SC (pictured center front). Webster’s Dictionary defines hero as 1a : an illustrious warrior b : a man admired for his achievements and noble qualities c : one who shows great courage. Rob exemplifies each category of this definition.

When Rob was the Center for Spinal Cord Injury’s (CSCI) first patient in July 2011, he was homebound, bedridden with pressure ulcers that would not heal, and had an inappropriate borrowed wheelchair. Since his recovery and death of a dear friend and mentor, he has dedicated most of his time to giving back to the community and others in need of a mentor/encourager/motivator. He is now working for the Center, coaching/playing on the Charleston Hurricanes wheelchair basketball team, assisting with CSCI’s new peer mentoring program, passionately involved in Achieving Wheelchair Equality’s (AWE) Youth sports training tennis/archery/adaptive waterskiing program and in his spare time he volunteers with AWE building wheelchair ramps for recent spinal cord injured individuals. In 2012, AWE built 11 of the 20 completed ramps in 10 different cities all over the state.

He currently drives an undependable 2001 GMC Sonoma with over 115,000 miles to all of these activities, fundraising events, and construction sites. He has to ride with others if any of the jobs are farther than 60 mile radius from Charleston. If he had a reliable vehicle, he could do so much more.

He’s so grateful to be able to give back so others can live life and helping others has helped him “get back to living.”

Click here to vote for Rob Duckworth.