SACRAMENTO-
The Vietnam veteran who had his motorized wheelchair stolen in front of the Arcade Market in Del Paso Heights juts got a new set of wheels.
“He just said he saw me on the news and he had a chair for me,” Morris said.
FOX40 first brought you the story Monday. Morris said he had been parking his wheelchair in front of the market for years. It was a trip the veteran took every morning, until a few weeks ago.
“There was two guys sitting out front, and when I came back out there was only one. Guy just got on and took off and got away with it while I was in the store,” Morris said.
Morris lost faith. He said the good people in this world were few and far between. After his story aired, he got a phone call from one of them.
“He told me he had a chair and I said well how much does it cost and he said nothing, but you have to come and get it,” Morris said.
Morris has a host of health issues. He says hardened arteries keep him wheelchair bound.
“It’s like needles in my legs,” he said.
He can walk for a few minutes until his legs begin to ache. Ever since the thief stole motorized wheelchair, Morris used his back up wheelchair as a walker – that had a broken wheel.
“It slowed me down a lot because one side didn’t have a wheel to it,” Morris said.
Morris’ caught the attention of FOX40 viewers.
“I was just be so happy to see the look on his face,” Bradley Guthrie said.
Guthrie was one of a dozen viewers who responded to the initial story, offering help.
“It was just something nobody knew what to do with so I paid 50 bucks for it and fixed it up,” Guthrie said.
Bradley said he felt bad for Morris, but more than that, he had been in Morris’s shoes. Gutherie said he has been a victim of theft. On top of that, he, too, is a veteran.
“The thief didn’t need it. And even if he did, for someone else, it wasn’t his to take. Give back. That’s all I can say. Be a man,” Guthrie said.
“I’d tell him enjoy the silly little ride, but I got me a Rolls Royce,” joked Morris.
Morris will be locking his wheelchair up from now on.
