thedrifter
10-25-08, 11:07 AM
Group donates Segway to wounded Marine
By Shelby Sebens
Staff Writer
Published: Friday, October 24, 2008 at 6:18 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, October 24, 2008 at 7:50 p.m.
A Marine who lost part of his right leg after stepping on a mine in Afghanistan will find it easier to get around now, thanks to a Southport resident.
Capt. Chuck Hayter received his new Segway Personal Transporter on Friday from Southport Segways for Disabled Vets, an organization started by a Southport resident who saw a need.
Bill Vann saw a television show in the spring about people giving injured veterans Segways and decided to bring the gesture home.
“They just need all the help we can give them,” he said of wounded veterans.
Vann said he wanted to present the gift to Hayter when the Wounded Warriors rode into town Friday. The Wounded Warriors Project rehabilitates injured veterans, and Waterfront Park in Southport was one stop on a bicycling event the group sponsored this week.
Hayter is a resident at the Wounded Warrior Battalion East at Camp Lejeune, but he hopes to soon leave the Marines to heal and spend time with his wife and two young children in their home state, Montana.
He stepped on the mine during a patrol in July 2004, but after he and his doctor decided to amputate his right leg below the knee, he declined rehab and went back to help his fellow Marines. Fitted with a prosthetic leg, he was deployed to Iraq in 2005, according to an e-mail he sent Vann.
After his second deployment, Hayter went to the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Earlier this year he was transferred to the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Pendleton, where he took care of wounded Marines. He is now at Camp Lejeune waiting for separation from the Marine Corps.
“The strain of staying in the Infantry with one leg has both burdened my health and my family, and I am ready to serve my country in a new career,” Hayter said in his e-mail.
Hayter will learn how to ride his new mode of transportation at Cape Fear Segway in Wilmington, Vann said.
Despite a couple fundraisers and some generous donations, Vann is still short about $2,500 for the $5,000 Segway and is seeking more donations, he said.
He added he wanted to continue the program to give more Segways to injured veterans but thinks it might be too difficult to find the funds.
Vann, who spent six years in the Army National Guard, said he was happy to help Hayter.
“It was a person that I thought deserved it,” he said.
To donate to Southport Segways for Disabled Vets, call Vann at 471-0771
Shelby Sebens: 264-8005
shelby.sebens@starnewsonline.com
Ellie
By Shelby Sebens
Staff Writer
Published: Friday, October 24, 2008 at 6:18 p.m.
Last Modified: Friday, October 24, 2008 at 7:50 p.m.
A Marine who lost part of his right leg after stepping on a mine in Afghanistan will find it easier to get around now, thanks to a Southport resident.
Capt. Chuck Hayter received his new Segway Personal Transporter on Friday from Southport Segways for Disabled Vets, an organization started by a Southport resident who saw a need.
Bill Vann saw a television show in the spring about people giving injured veterans Segways and decided to bring the gesture home.
“They just need all the help we can give them,” he said of wounded veterans.
Vann said he wanted to present the gift to Hayter when the Wounded Warriors rode into town Friday. The Wounded Warriors Project rehabilitates injured veterans, and Waterfront Park in Southport was one stop on a bicycling event the group sponsored this week.
Hayter is a resident at the Wounded Warrior Battalion East at Camp Lejeune, but he hopes to soon leave the Marines to heal and spend time with his wife and two young children in their home state, Montana.
He stepped on the mine during a patrol in July 2004, but after he and his doctor decided to amputate his right leg below the knee, he declined rehab and went back to help his fellow Marines. Fitted with a prosthetic leg, he was deployed to Iraq in 2005, according to an e-mail he sent Vann.
After his second deployment, Hayter went to the School of Infantry at Camp Pendleton, Calif. Earlier this year he was transferred to the Wounded Warrior Battalion at Camp Pendleton, where he took care of wounded Marines. He is now at Camp Lejeune waiting for separation from the Marine Corps.
“The strain of staying in the Infantry with one leg has both burdened my health and my family, and I am ready to serve my country in a new career,” Hayter said in his e-mail.
Hayter will learn how to ride his new mode of transportation at Cape Fear Segway in Wilmington, Vann said.
Despite a couple fundraisers and some generous donations, Vann is still short about $2,500 for the $5,000 Segway and is seeking more donations, he said.
He added he wanted to continue the program to give more Segways to injured veterans but thinks it might be too difficult to find the funds.
Vann, who spent six years in the Army National Guard, said he was happy to help Hayter.
“It was a person that I thought deserved it,” he said.
To donate to Southport Segways for Disabled Vets, call Vann at 471-0771
Shelby Sebens: 264-8005
shelby.sebens@starnewsonline.com
Ellie