Sunday, December 05, 1999
Scooter would give Avondale man new freedom
BY JANELLE GELFAND
The Cincinnati Enquirer
Melvin Chambers has MS and can't get around freely.
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Melvin Chambers, 70, eases himself onto his piano bench, bends over the keys, and plays “What a Friend We Have in Jesus.” The strong beat and soulful harmonies take him back to the days when he played for a gospel choir, and they raised the rafters in churches all over Kentucky and Ohio.
“I just started playing by ear, when I was 16 or 17. It comes from the man above,” he says, looking up at the cross hanging over the spinet piano in his Avondale apartment.
Mr. Chambers can't get around the way he once did, because he has multiple sclerosis (MS). Diagnosed in his late 20s, he managed to work as a cook, a hospital custodian and at other jobs until his disease worsened.
Now, barely able to get around his apartment by holding onto the furniture, he sits alone, surrounded by family portraits.
“This is my mother here; she lived to be 100 years old,” he says, pointing to her picture. His father was a deacon; his stepfather was a minister.
Although he had 15 siblings, he never married. His mother died nine years ago. He does not want to ask for help. “But I'm in a situation that I have to accept what's left of my life,” he says.
If he had a motorized scooter, he would go outside and take a spin around the block in the fresh air, he says. “I might meet somebody I know, and (talk) with them a little bit, then come back home. Instead of just sittin' here.”
He could run to the store for a loaf of bread, or scoot down the block to his doctor appointments.
He could participate in day trips with the people in his complex, and he could go down the long hallways to play for a gospel choir right in his building.
Playing for the choir “gives me something to work with the mind, and then I have somebody to talk to,” he says.
He launches into “Amazing Grace” on the piano. It's his favorite hymn. His playing has a touch of the blues.
But the first thing he would do with a scooter, he says, is go to church. He has not been able to attend for two years.
“I'm going to try to make it over there,” he says, with a smile.
Introduction to the Wish List
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How the Wish List works
Their wishes came true: 1998 recipients
Equipment could ease communication for palsy patients
Single father of two ill children needs appliances, furniture
Computer would offer gift of voice
Mom needs a safe place to sleep for her daughter
Blind college student needs devices, special software
Home needs to be wheelchair equipped
Hospital bed can add to independence
Lift chair can make standing easier
Ky. man's smile might shine more brightly
Scooter would give Avondale man new freedom
Computer could help mother helpo her children
Reading machine would open world
