Sharon Chambers’ husband Trevor suffered two strokes in March, along with a series of mini-strokes while being operated on, that left him in the hospital for months. He now needs a wheelchair to get around and that’s where the gift comes in.
The Chambers’ home needed a ramp and one company quoted her a price of $6,000. That was tough with neither of them working.
Sharon sought a quote from Decks R Us and owner Frank McGillan came in with a price of $0.
McGillan said the ramp cost about $3,500 with “labour and material. I went through a little bout of cancer a while back. It’s tough on the family. I wanted to give back. I’ve got the skills to help out. When he gets in better shape, they can pass it on to somebody.”
McGillan said he had a company that wanted to donate the wood, but then backed out. So, he decided to donate the material and labour to build the ramp.
“It’s absolutely beautiful,” Chambers said. “I’m telling all my friends. My husband isn’t working and I’m not working and things are a bit tight. Frank said whenever we don’t need it anymore, he’ll come and take it away.”
Trevor worked in the car leasing business, while Chambers worked part-time at Wind Mobile. She’s stopped working to look after Trevor, she noted.
“He left to go to work (when he suffered the strokes). I can’t believe it happened. Our lives changed,” Chambers said.
Trevor is starting to move an arm and a tube in his stomach was removed a couple of weeks ago.
“He’s eating normal and he’s drinking coffee from Tim Hortons, which he loves,” she added.
He’s undergoing various therapies as he continues to improve.
“He never told me a price. He said it would cost me nothing,” Chambers said, adding, “I’m sure it would be in the ballpark for sure.
“I couldn’t believe it. I started crying on the phone. I hugged him when I saw him. I gave him a really nice card and Tim Hortons gift card so he could take his workers to lunch,” she said. “My brother needs a deck, so my brother’s been using him.”
Chambers thought the ramp would be there permanently.
“I believe he’ll be able to take it apart and take it away.”
It took two days to build the ramp and it was completed in late November.
“We’re doing catchup right now. A couple of customers, we mentioned it and they said ‘do that, it’s more important,'” McGillan said.
Source: https://bit.ly/2rDVPOC
