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Disabled veteran gets stolen mobility back

The Hutchinson News - 5/22/2017

May 22--An annual fundraiser, and foresight, meant help was available for a disabled veteran whose main method of transportation was stolen one piece at a time during the winter.

Craig Sowder of Hutchinson served in the U.S. Army, and in August of 2015 a hereditary condition he wasn't aware of caused him to have seven strokes in 10 days, ending his post-Army career as a truck driver. After more than a year of rehabilitation and therapy, he was able to live on his own again, moving into an apartment at Wiley Plaza during the winter.

To get around, he either rides a bicycle or uses Reno County Area Transit.

"This thing [his bike] has been an angel to me," Sowder said Thursday. "This has been my therapy."

So it was particularly frustrating when a thief or thieves started taking it, piece by piece, from Wiley Plaza's parking garage, where Sowder had it locked up tightly with a formidable bike lock given to him by the owners of the Wiley building. First the front tire was gone, then the back tire, then the seat and post. By the end of winter all the thieves had left was the frame

Without his bicycle, Sowder had to hoof it to his twice-weekly therapy workouts at the YMCA. That was, until a friend and neighbor reached out to the Moose Lodge for help and got in contact with John Miller on May 7.

Miller, himself a U.S. Air Force veteran, organizes a poker tournament at the Moose Lodge to benefit veterans each November on the Saturday closest to Veterans Day. It raises around $2,800 a year for veterans organizations like the VFW, American Legion, AmVets and the Fort Riley Wounded Warriors group, as well as the Reno County Veterans Memorial in South Hutchinson.

But Miller keeps some of the funds raised in reserve for situations like Sowder's, where a veteran has a specific need that doesn't fit in other organizations' programs. So Miller was more than happy to help, agreeing to use some of the reserve funds to restore Sowder's bike at Harley's Bicycles.

"It was all done in two days, I can't believe it," Sowder said. "I'm still working on thank-you notes. It means so much to me."

He said he couldn't have afforded to fix it himself.

"There's no way," he said. "Because of my strokes, I'm on fixed income for the rest of my life.

"I didn't know anybody would help," Sowder said. "It means the world to me, because I can't drive ever again. I depend on that bike."

What's more, the help from strangers raised his spirits. He said that periodically he feels alone and like people don't understand what he is going through. But this situation has made him feel that people do care.

He added that he isn't leaving the bike in the parking garage any longer, even with a bike lock.

"Needless to say, it's in my bedroom now," Sowder said. "It's found a new home."

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(c)2017 The Hutchinson News (Hutchinson, Kan.)

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