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Back in the Saddle Again
By Jeff Jardinea - Modesto Bee September 16, 2008
Juan Gonzales rolls his wheelchair to a lift on his new van Monday as Carole McFarlane of the Society for Handicapped Children and Adults and Robert Borman of Modesto Mobility Center look on.
Modesto Bee - Bart Ah You
BACK IN THE SADDLE AGAIN -- Seven weeks had passed since Juan Gonzales had wheels that were highway worthy. The quadriplegic's motorized wheelchair is suitable once he gets to Modesto Junior College or to the store. But to get there, he needed a bigger form of transportation. The 25-year-old Oakdale resident's customized minivan had been stolen while parked in front of his home Aug. 4. Manteca police found it stripped, dumped and torched in that city a few days later.
Monday, Gonzales -- paralyzed when he was thrown from a bull in 1998 -- became mobile once again. The Society for Handicapped Children and Adults recently received a full-sized van, had it retrofitted with hand controls and turned it over to Gonzales at the agency's office in downtown Modesto. Rob Borman of the Modesto Mobility Center donated and installed the hand controls.