By BRANDY ROBINSON
Special to the Leader
My sister, Tonya Lovercheck of Jacksonville, is competing again this year to win a handicapped-accessible van after a November 2011 car crash left her with limited use of her hands and arms and no use of her legs.
She was rendered unable to care for herself after the accident and is now a resident of Woodland Hills Nursing and Rehab.
Tonya needs the van so we can get her back to living life.
To vote for her, visit http://www.mobilityawarenessmonth.com/entrant/tonya-lovercheck-jacksonville-ar/.
Signing up for an account is not required. You can instead sign in using your Facebook, Instagram or Google Plus account. Please vote for Tonya once a day through May 31.
My sister was just 38 years old when her life changed.
A wife and mother of two girls, Tonya worked a full-time job and spent much of her free time at her 14-year-old daughter’s softball games, while chasing her 3-year-old around the ballpark.
Her daughters are now 17 and 6. Tonya is 41, and she is a graduate of Jacksonville High School.
Laughter, fun, friends and family – her life was rich and full. Tonya loved adventure and was always on the go.
Her neck was broken and her spinal cord was injured at cervical levels five, six and seven in the one-vehicle rollover accident on Dick Jeter Road between North Little Rock and Jacksonville.
Tonya was rendered unable to care for herself after that and went from living in a house with her girls and husband to living in a small room with cold tile floors and empty white walls.
It’s a nice facility, and she has found friends on the staff that takes care of her.
But Tonya has no way to go anywhere or do the things she was used to doing.
My sister relies on visits from friends and family and her faith in God to get her through each day.
Occasionally, her family is able to borrow a van to get Tonya out of the facility.
She loves to get out and see the world she has been missing for the past three years. She especially enjoys attending events her children are involved in.
Visits in a nursing home can’t be compared with a trip to the park or shopping with her teenage daughter – things Tonya is unable to do on her own. She’s already missed so much.
Please vote for my sister so she won’t have to miss any more.
