SPARTA, Ill. — After a tragedy took away her ability to walk, a Randolph County woman has depended on a powerchair to maintain her active lifestyle, but a recent upgrade has left her stranded.
On June 7, 2017, Debi Dyment spent the day swimming, but a motorcycle crash on her way home changed her life forever.
“I was paralyzed,” Debi Dyment said.
Since that day she has used a motorized wheelchair to stay active.
“I’m not able to do anything without my power chair,” Dyment said.
Medicare Part B allows patients to purchase a new chair every five years.
Dyment shopped around before choosing a NuMotion chair with bigger tires and a reclining lift.
“It’s something that’s required to keep your circulation,” Dyment said.
The new chair cost more than $45,000, but there’s one major problem.
“It hasn’t worked since day one,” Dyment said. “I could be out and need a particular setting, go to do it, not have it and be stuck. Those things weigh about 450 pounds.”
NuMotion sent a service tech to work on the chair, but more than 14 months later the parts are still sitting on the seat.
“I don’t know why, but they stopped returning my calls,” Dyment said. “They’ve taken the ability away from me to have a comfortable ride.”
5 On Your Side reporter Holden Kurwicki reached out to NuMotion to see what, if anything, could be done to get Debi’s chair fixed.
A spokesperson for NuMotion provided this statement:
“We know that mobility and independence are critical to our customers. Numotion has been working to resolve configuration obstacles for Ms. Dyment for several months now and expects to have all concerns resolved within the next week. Ms. Dyment is a valued customer, and we look forward to continuing to support her mobility needs in the future.”
“That chair is my livelihood,” Dyment said. “To have it would be so wonderful. If something could be done to repair it after 14 months I would be in seventh heaven.”
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