Lowe's employees drop everything to fix Vietnam vet's broken wheelchair
Lowe's employees drop everything to fix Vietnam vet's broken wheelchair
When Michael Sulsona's wheelchair broke inside a Staten Island Lowe's, his wife, Frieda, was concerned. That was before her husband reminded her: "We're in Lowe's. We're in the tool capital of the world!"
The couple planned on purchasing the equipment needed to repair Sulsona's wheelchair at home, but three employees refused to let them leave the store until he was comfortable and his wheelchair was fixed. "They tore the wheelchair apart," Sulsona told WABC. "They tried all different types of bolts. I was thanking them and they said you're not leaving here until the wheelchair is like new."
The Staten Island resident lost both his legs above the knee when he stepped on a land mine during the Vietnam War. He was just 20 years old. Sulsona has been using a wheelchair ever since, and was waiting "for longer than he could remember" for a new chair from the VA. Once his story went viral, the VA got involved and delivered a custom wheelchair to his house, telling Buzzfeed, "Too many veterans wait too long to receive their care and benefits, and this has never been acceptable."
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As for the Lowe's employees, manager Troy Goins is not surprised that the trio went into action when they saw Sulsona. "Our associates go above and beyond to take care of the community," he said. "They think of them as family." --Catherine Garcia
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Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.
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