by Heidi Werntz
Tuesday, Apr. 29, 2003 at 5:09 PM
werntzphoto@hotmail.com
The patients and staff of Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center allowed me into their lives for two days to do this story. I cried many times while I visited, and have cried many times more since then. Their stories are incredible, courageous, and more than anything else, need to be told. Rancho may be shut down within two months. Their lives and the thousands of others that are with them and could have come after them will be changed forever for the worst if this happens. I cannot thank them enough for their generosity and their trust. I hope I can do them justice. Here are some of their stories...
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LARRY AND RODRIGO
I met Larry and Rodrigo at the tent city outside of Rancho Los Amigos National Rehabilitation Center. We sat and talked for hours. They had me in tears one minute, and in stiches the next...
Larry Purfoy, 27 years old, Spina Bifita.
Larry was born with Spina Bifita, a condition that has paralyzed his feet. He has been a patient at Rancho since he was 9 months old. He was able to go to school, learn to play sports, and most of all, he told me that he has a sense of pride in himself that Rancho instilled. "They never let me feel sorry for myself." Larry walks when he's at home, but is in a wheelchair the rest of the time. He drives now and is completely self-sufficient. And ladies...he's got a great smile! He told me to say that... ;-)
Rodrigo Rivas, 37 years old, car accident.
Rodrigo was the first person I met when I arrived at Rancho. He has been camped out there every day since the tent city was set up, this while being paralyzed in the lower half of his body. Rodrigo was injured in a car accident on Y2K Eve and has been a patient at Rancho for the past 3 years. When I asked him what he would do if Rancho closed, he said, "Stay here. I'm not worried about myself, I'm worried about all of the other people in here that have no place to go." When Rodrigo arrived at Rancho, he was needing 24 hour a day care, he is now out on his own, living by himself. He told me he has traveled more since his accident than he ever did before. He has 4 children, who all live with their mother. She left him shortly after his accident. The pain caused by her leaving made him suicidal, and if it weren't for the people at Rancho, "I wouldn't be here."
