Four Year wait for correct wheelchair

WOAI NBC News Channel 4 San Antonio 
Nov 18, 2013 


SAN ANTONIO,Texas - Countless students earn a college degree faster than its taking Vicki Jurney-Taylor to receive her special-ordered wheelchair. Jurney-Taylor is well known in San Antonio for her love of animals and speaking her mind, and she's also known across the country for fighting a debilitating disease.

At 55-years-old, she is one of the longest-living people in the U.S. with Spinal Muscular Atrophy or SMA, a disease that attacks nerve cells and weakens the muscles. While some people might ask "why me," Jurney-Taylor is more concerned with another question: "where's my wheelchair?"

"When you order a piece of equipment that costs as much as a power chair costs, you expect to have stellar service," Jurney-Taylor said. 

She ordered a $40,000 chair from United Seating and Mobility in 2009.

 The chair came in two weeks, but it was missing a place to put the battery to her ventilator, which she needs to live. "I can only breathe off of the ventilator for three hours. After that, I start to turn blue," she said. She says the company agreed to fix the chair but asked if she would sign the delivery receipt so they could get paid by Medicare.

That was four years ago, and she's still waiting for her new chair. Jurney-Taylor called and emailed the company for years, but says she never got an answer. A quick search on Facebook revealed she wasn't the only one struggling with the company, so were children across the nation.

 "I mean, small children who are at the stage of development who need this piece of equipment to go to school and to interact with their peers are being dropped from the system and having to stay home," Jurney-Taylor said. 

Over the summer United Seating merged with another company and became Numotion Mobility.

The new management did not help with the situation until the News 4 Trouble Shooters got involved this week.

 Alexis Ward with Numotion Mobility admitted that the company dropped the ball. "We didn't take care of her and we're human we made a mistake," Ward said. She also said they will meet with Jurney-Taylor to help them find solutions to their customer service problem.

 Jurney-Taylor was fitted for her new chair Thursday night and expects to get it in about a month.

For video report:
: http://news4sanantonio.com/news/features/top-stories/stories/fouryearwait-wheelchair-delivery-5789.shtml#.Uotjl4dDDmw.twitter

WOAI NBC News Channel 4 San Antonio provides local news, weather forecasts, traffic updates, investigations, and items of interest in the community, sports and entertainment programming for San Antonio and nearby towns and communities in South Central Texas, including Windcrest, Uvalde, Universal City, Somerset, Seguin, Schertz, San Marcos, Sabinal, Poth, Poteet, Pleasanton, Pearsall, New Braunfels, Live Oak, Kerrville, Hondo, Helotes, Goliad, Fredericksburg, Floresville, Eagle Pass, Devine, Del Rio, Cuero, Crystal City, Converse, Cibolo, Castroville, Carrizo Springs, Boerne, Bandera. 

Read More at: http://news4sanantonio.com/