This Saturday, the Chronicle ran a story about Tyler Maphis and his family (pictured above). I got a note from Tyler’s mom, Misty, on Sunday. In three hours after the story ran, more than $2,000 was donated to the family’s non-profit Web site.
Take a look.
Wheelchair-accessible van on family wish list
By Kelly Jasper | Staff Writer | The Augusta Chronicle, Augusta, Ga.
Saturday, December 19, 2009
Tyler Maphis will never drive, but his parents are car shopping for the 15-year-old. A used wheelchair-equipped van is not the stuff of a teen’s dreams, but it’s what he needs.
Tyler Maphis, 15, can’t walk or speak and is confined to a wheelchair. His parents, Misty (left) and Roger Maphis, hope to buy a wheelchair-accessible van before Staff Sgt. Maphis is deployed to Afghanistan in May. “It’s about safety,” Mrs. Maphis said.
Born with severe disabilities, Tyler is confined to a wheelchair. He can’t walk. He can’t speak. He can’t breathe through his mouth or nose. He can’t swallow or chew.
Tyler’s father, Army Staff Sgt. Roger Maphis, is set for deployment to Afghanistan in May, and the Grovetown family needs the van by then.
A nonprofit group has been formed to pay for the $25,000 van Tyler needs.
Though a bus with a lift takes him to Grovetown High School, Tyler’s parents carry him and a 72-pound wheelchair to their van when they leave the house.
“There are times when he and I are home and can’t go anywhere because I can’t lift him,” said his mother, Misty Maphis, who runs a day care out of her home to be closer to Tyler. Lifting Tyler is a two-person job, and by spring Mrs. Maphis will have less help as Staff Sgt. Maphis makes his third trip to the Middle East.
“When Roger leaves, I don’t know what we’ll do,” she said. “We want to have the freedom to do things, live life.”
In the past two months, the nonprofit Tater’s Toter has organized two First Friday raffles and a trail ride, which starts this morning. It’s a silly name for a serious need, Mrs. Maphis said. Tater has been Tyler’s nickname since birth. The fundraisers are the family’s last resort. The Maphises have exhausted options through insurance and the Department of Veterans Affairs.
Tater’s Toter has raised $3,500, including $1,000 from the Medical College of Georgia, said Christy Reynolds, a family friend spearheading fundraising efforts. Mrs. Maphis and her daughter, 18-year-old Ashley, are also sending letters to politicians and businesspeople.
“It’s just an enormous expense. We know that,” Mrs. Maphis said of the van. “We have to do this, because it’s about safety. Tater sits in just a regular passenger seat now. I wouldn’t have to pick up the wheelchair. I’d stop hurting my back.”