My Hospice Story: Debbie Kohl
Social Worker, Halifax Health – Hospice of Volusia/Flagler
‘The Pay it Forward Scooter’
“We work with wonderful patients and families here at Hospice of Volusia/Flagler and they are very generous. Here is the story of one family’s generosity and how it is helping many patients.
A few months ago one of our families in the Daytona area lost their loved one. They had a scooter their loved one was using and wanted to know if any of our families could use it. We had a single patient who lived in Lake Helen and he stated it would give him great freedom if he could have the scooter. It was given to him and he used it for many months. His health declined and came to the West Volusia Care Center and the scooter came with him. It was understood when he died the scooter would be given to someone else. He died about a week later.
At that time, we had a young man at the care center that had lost the ability to walk and was very weak so he could not roll himself around in a wheelchair. It was his birthday so the care center staff cleaned up the wheelchair, put balloons on it, and rolled it into his room on the special day. His eyes lit up when he saw it. He was assisted onto it and proceeded to race up and down the hallways with his sons at his side. This scooter brought so much joy and freedom to his life in his final days. He had the scooter until he died.
I called the social worker who had the first patient and asked if someone else could use it. She stated she had a patient who was in his 80’s who recently separated from his wife and could use the scooter to get to the VOTRAN bus stop so he could go to the stores. We contacted a local transport company, First Care, and they donated their time to come and pick up the scooter and deliver it to the patient. He wept with joy when he saw it because now he would have the freedom to get around. Through the generosity of one family, three patients have been helped!”