https://archive.triblive.com/news/all-terrain-wheelchair-opens-new-world-for-uniontown-veteran/
All-terrain wheelchair opens 'new world' for Uniontown veteran
Evan R. Sanders | Tribune-Review
Retired Marine Brandon Rumbaugh of Uniontown rounds the corner at his home Wednesday, May 4, 2016, after testing out an all-terrain motorized wheelchair that was given to him by the Pittsburgh Rotary International District 7300.
The delivery on Wednesday of an all-terrain wheelchair to a retired Marine who lost both of his legs to an improvised explosive device in Afghanistan could not have been more timely.
Brandon Rumbaugh said he plans to use the TracFab chair, a donation from Pittsburgh Rotary International District 7300, to access a New Jersey beach this month when he is the best man in his brother's wedding.
“It's perfect timing,” said Rumbaugh, 27, after he took the chair on a short test-run outside his home in Uniontown.
The $15,000 tracked wheelchair is one of 10 the Rotary organization has purchased for disabled veterans in Western Pennsylvania, said Dan Lyons, a member of the White Oak Rotary. The project began last year, said Herman Dieckmann, former District 7300 governor.
“These guys write a blank check to the government when they go in, and it can be any amount, up to their lives,” Dieckmann said. “I said, ‘why don't we do something for them?' ”
The Department of Veterans Affairs estimates that 6 percent of service members wounded in Iraq and Afghanistan are amputees. Lyons said the goal initially was to donate the chairs to honorably discharged veterans from the Persian Gulf era and later, but the program was expanded to all veterans because of difficulty identifying eligible recipients.
Lyons said privacy laws such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act prohibit health care providers from connecting Rotarians with veterans in need. To reach out, he said, the Rotary distributes pamphlets at Veterans Affairs hospitals and relies on word of mouth.
Rumbaugh said the chair will allow him to work in his yard and go hunting and fishing. Weed trimming, he said, takes several hours when on crutches. With the chair, he said, it will be easier and take far less time.
Chas Pinkney of Uniontown, an Iraq war veteran and one of Rumbaugh's friends, said the all-terrain chair will “open up a whole new world” for Rumbaugh.
“It's like giving him new legs,” said Pinkney, who served in the Army in Iraq and Afghanistan.
Liz Zemba is a Tribune-Review staff writer. Reach her at 412-601-2166 or lzemba@tribweb.com.
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