Lowe's Workers Stayed After Work To Fix A Vietnam War Veteran's Wheelchair For Free
A Vietnam War veteran has written a touching tribute to three Lowe's employees who fixed his wheelchair after it fell apart in the store.
In a letter to the Staten Island Advance, Michael Sulsona - who lost both his legs after stepping on a land mine 40 years ago - explained that his wheelchair had repeatedly broken down and he's been trying for two years to get a replacement from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
On the evening of July 7, his wheelchair fell apart again at a Lowe's store on Staten Island.
Sulsona said he was shocked that three employees immediately stopped what they were doing to assist him.
After placing Sulsona in another wheelchair, "They took the wheelchair apart and replaced the broken parts and told me, 'We're going to make this chair like new,'" he said.
The employees stayed nearly an hour after the store had closed to fix the chair.
"I kept thanking them and all they could say was, 'It was our honor,'" Sulsona wrote. "The actions of these three employees at Lowe's showed me there are some who still believe in stepping to the plate. They didn't ask any questions, didn't feel the need to fill out any forms or make phone calls. Someone needed help and they felt privileged to be given the opportunity."
Sulsona and his wife later returned to Lowe's to thank the employees with homemade cookies and a framed photo of them fixing the chair, according to the Staten Island Advance's Andrew Simontacchi.
Staten Island Advance
Following Sulsona's letter, the Department of Veterans Affairs finally sent him the wheelchair replacement he had been waiting on for two years, according to Buzzfeed.
"We were very sorry to hear about the reported circumstances surrounding Mr. Sulsona's request for a new wheelchair," a VA spokesperson told Buzzfeed. "We quickly investigated and can report the Veteran's new custom wheelchair was delivered to him today and it along with his back up will be serviced by the VA as needed."
Here's Sulsona with the new chair he recieved.
Staten Island Advance