COLONIAL HEIGHTS, Va. -- Patricia P.T. Tomlinson, who was born blind, took a terrible fall down her stairs in last December. Her doctors said unless she got a chair lift installed in her home, she would need to move. Less than 24 hours after CBS 6 aired her story last month, generous viewers donated enough money to not only buy the chair lift but also cover some of P.T.'s medical costs.
“I don’t know how to put it into words, to be honest. I was just overwhelmed," Tomlinson said. “I am safe now because of the generosity of all the people that donated to my page."
Tomlinson said being able to once again reach her upstairs bedroom and sleep in her own bed has been a game changer and something she would no longer take for granted.
She hadn’t been able to access her room for the last four months after she fell down the stairs and broke her hip, femur, and other bones.
“I feel wonderful to be back in my bedroom," Tomlinson, who'd been sleeping on an air matres downstairs, said. “It's important for me to stay here in my home too. Anyone with my disability knows we have to be organized and know where things are and stay where they are."
P.T. is now focused on healing so she can get back to work at Soar356 she she’s spent the last 40 creating connections with community members as a receptionist.
“If I can make a difference in one person's life a day, then to me, I have accomplished something that day," she said.
This time, it was the community that made a difference in her life.
“I’m more determined. It just gives me the determination I need to get myself together to go back to work and go help more people " she said.
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