After Thirty Years on Crutches, Dad Gets New Wheelchair

For decades, Wilfred Garbutt relied on crutches to get around after losing his leg in 1994. Today, thanks to a donation from U.S.-based nonprofit Chair the Love and the Rotary Club of Belize, Garbutt received a new wheelchair. He was one of two hundred and sixty recipients of new chairs handed over during a ceremony designed to help Belizeans with mobility challenges regain their independence. The initiative highlights the steep costs and barriers many face in accessing essential equipment, and the life-changing impact of these donations. News Five’s Paul Lopez tells us more.

 

Paul Lopez, Reporting

Wilfred Garbutt lost his leg in 1994. That setback hasn’t stopped him from being the most supportive, hands-on father to his three kids. Sadly, Garbutt has spent nearly three decades relying on crutches to get around. He got his first wheelchair three years ago, a donation from the Rotary Club of Belize. Today he got a replacement. Before then, he was unable to afford a wheelchair, like many others.

 

Wilfred Garbutt, Rancho Village Resident

“I know when I had checked with BAPDA, because I am a member BAPDA they said it would cost about eight hundred dollars to get it to Belize. That is duty and everything. And I don’t understand why they charge duty for wheelchair. It is ridiculous. Even the crutches, I pay two hundred and seventy-five dollars for a pair of crutches, brand new crutches. That is ridiculous. I am not working, I am retired. So, how can I afford crutches.”

 

The U.S.-based nonprofit Chair the Love has recognized the financial hurdles faced by Belizeans living with mobility challenges. And so, they have been donating wheelchairs to Belize through the Rotary Club on an annual basis. Director Augie Byllott was in country today to hand over two hundred and sixty wheelchairs.

 

Augie Byllott, Director, Chair the Love

“As I have told other people, we get these chairs for two hundred dollars a piece and that is directly from the manufacturer. They put them in a shipping container and deliver them directly to the port of entry. The thing that is interesting is that I have seen the exact same wheelchairs that we deliver in medical supply stores in Central America and Mexico for as much as twelve hundred U.S. dollars. And it is not that anybody is trying to steal from anybody. But what it is, if I buy a container of two hundred and sixty wheelchairs and I sell fifty to this guy, who sells twenty to those guys, everybody is trying to make a profit to keep their business alive. So, we are able to go direct from the manufacturer to the recipient.”

 

The Rotary Club of Belize held a brief handing over ceremony today to honor the donors and highlight some of the deserving recipients. The event was led by Rotarian, Douglas Hyde.

 

Douglas Hyde, Rotarian

“It is very important that we do such things. We look forward for this time of the year, December. This is one of our biggest event of the year, the distribution of wheelchair. We have given out four thousand wheelchairs over the past twenty years. We have become the organization that leads and coordinates this. So we are very excited and happy that we are going to be giving out two hundred and sixty wheelchairs today.”

 

The chairs will be distributed through various Rotary Clubs across the country. It’s not just about providing people with new wheelchairs. The initiative restores a sense of independence in each recipient. In many cases it gives them a new lease on life, improves their economic situation and allows them to have more meaningful relationships with those around them.

 

Wilfred Garbutt

“I am a stay-at-home dad. I have three kids. I get up early in the morning and I have to make them breakfast. I have to prepare them lunch when they come home from school and I have to prepare them supper. So, moving around in the house, I am now very mobile in the house. I am used to it and I can get around just fine. And also, before where we use to live there was a shop about half a mile from the house. So, I would wheel myself to the shop. I did not have to depend on anybody. It gives you a sense of independence, that you can do your own thing.”

 

The Chair the Love organization says it will deliver five thousand wheelchairs to fifteen different countries by the end of the year. Reporting for News Five, I am Paul Lopez.