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Jacob Perkins from Pegasus Print Group is asking printers to pitch in for a worthy cause this Christmas, and help a young Aussie get the wheelchair he needs to turn his life around.
A train accident left Will Raymonde, 32, without the use of his legs. The Sydney labourer also lost his job, and is living in government housing.
Perkins first met Raymonde when he was struggling with his government-issued wheelchair at Paddy’s Markets. He says the wheelchair is “like something out of the middle ages – it is meant for going from one room to another, not for a young man to get out and try to find a job.
“It breaks down, the wheels fall off, it is absolutely horrendous. But he can’t get anything else, that’s the trouble.”
Perkins has managed to find Will a job at a call centre for the new year – but he needs a new wheelchair capable of getting him to and from work on the bus.
Perkins says, “Will is no slouch, he’s an intelligent guy, he just needs a reliable chair. At the moment he’s on an invalid pension, which is only a couple of hundred bucks a week – you’d have trouble eating on that.
“Around $5,000 will get him a custom-made chair, which will last him five or six years, and by that stage he can afford to get his own again.”
Perkins says he has experienced what it’s like to need help getting back on your feet. He says, “I was bankrupt in 2000, I kickstarted my life, and people helped me to do that. But I don’t have the means to pull $5,000 out of a hat for Will. I’m pitching in, but we need some help.
“My mother was paralysed from the waist down. She was the first person in a wheelchair in Australia to get her car license, it had a motorbike control – and she drove it around Australia. You can still live life to the full.”
As a young bloke Raymonde is finding it frustrating to be “sitting at home with nothing to do;” he says he would much rather be out at work.
Perkins says he hopes the printing industry can give generously to raise enough for a new wheelchair by Christmas – and change someone’s life for 2014.
A bank account has been set up by Rodney Frost of Lamson Paragon Group for donations, anything from five dollars to $5,000 can be sent to:
Bank: N A B
Account: Wheelchair for Will Trust Acc
BSB: 082067
Account number: 822150278
