Millwright class comes together to help student for third time
5/2/2013 10:43:07 AM
Mike Johnson, an engineering student at the College of the North Atlantic, has had to tackle the long haul up the hill from school to his home in his wheelchair for the past several months. Johnson, who was paralyzed from the lower ribs down in a car accident in 2010, used to have a van to get around in, but that vehicle has been out of commission since January. Since March, his neighbour Jerry Smith, a millwright instructor at the college, and the students Smith teaches have been working away raising money to get Johnson a new vehicle.
Mike Johnson hopes he won’t have to wheel his way home up the steep inclines of Elizabeth Street and Wheeler’s Road in Corner Brook for a long time to come.
For the last several months, the engineering student at the College of the North Atlantic has had to tackle the long haul up the hill from school to his home in his wheelchair.
Johnson, who was paralyzed from the lower ribs down in a car accident in 2010, used to have a van to get around in, but that vehicle has been out of commission since January.
Since March, his neighbour Jerry Smith, a millwright instructor at the college, and the students Smith teaches have been working away raising money to get Johnson a new vehicle.
In the last few days, that goal was realized and Johnson is now the proud new owner of a 1998 Toyota Four-Runner. He has equipped the sport utility vehicle with hand-controlled devices that attach to the brake and the accelerator.
“I never expected this at all from these people or anybody really,” said Johnson as he accepted a cheque for the $2,223 Smith and the students raised for the cause. “It just happened that I have a great neighbour and that neighbour has a great class who put their heart into everything. It’s pretty meaningful.”
Johnson said the four-wheel drive will come in handy around Corner Brook, especially in the icy winter. He has already taken it for an off-road spin, evident from the mud splattered all over the truck.
Johnson said he always wanted something like the rugged Four-Runner.
“I wanted to get something that can get me around and I wanted something that doesn’t break down,” he said. “These have a pretty good reputation.”
This was the third time Smith and the class have helped out Johnson this year. In January, they rigged up a snowblower to a sleigh so he could clear his driveway.
Later in the winter, they built him a specialized, wheelchair-accessible bobsleigh so he could race in the Cook’s Quest racing event held during the Corner Brook Winter Carnival.
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By Gary Kean
(Reprinted with permission of The Western Star - published May 2, 2013)