Suen Oke traveled 5,730 miles from Nigeria to Clay County, USA, to say “thank you” that she no longer has to crawl or be carried.
The 26-year-old woman lives in a village in south central Nigeria. She came to Penney Farms Retirement Community to share how her life was transformed by an all-terrain wheelchair called a PET, for Personal Energy Transportation, said Kathy Berger, the retirement community’s development director.
The three-wheeled hand-cranked cart, like those built in Penney Farms, can traverse rugged terrain in poor countries where wheelchairs cannot travel, Berger said. Oke contracted polio at age 4 and also was diagnosed with scoliosis. When she was 15, a pediatrician doing research in Africa arranged for her to come to Chicago for surgery. While there, the doctor saw an article about the PET cart in a magazine and arranged for Oke to get her first one. Often, she travels alone on her cart to visit her doctor.
The retirement community sponsors the PET facility on its Clay County campus, and it’s mostly volunteers who raise money, build and ship the carts around the globe. In 2014, they made 750 carts while their goal for 2015 is 800, Berger said. Each cart costs $250 in materials, though the labor is free.
Anyone who would like to volunteer or donate money or materials can call +1 904 284-5495.
PET International hosted Oke’s visit to raise awareness of the millions who do not have access to adequate mobility. Oke, who was in the United States for a month, visited several other facilities, including the main one in Columbia, Mo.