Seeking a life worth living

Andrea Roberts
Times Intern

 

Steven Greene is just like any other 23-year-old. He loves football, playing guitar and helping his mom in the kitchen. But unlike others his age, Greene is paralyzed from the waist down and recently had to have his left hip joint and femur removed due to a bone infection. Having just received his new wheelchair that is designed to accommodate his situation he found he could no longer get into the family’s current vehicle, which has greatly reduced his ability to be independent. After exhausting their options, the family is now asking the community for ways to organize a fundraiser.
“I am just a regular guy,” said Greene.
“The only thing different about me is that I can’t walk. I just want to live life just like any other person.”
Greene was born with Spina Bifida, a birth defect where the closing of the backbone and membranes around the spinal cord is incomplete. After years of sitting in a chair that was to small he ended up with pressure ulcers. In April 2015 he developed osteomyelitis, an inflammation of the bone or bone marrow due to an infection, which eventually led to the removal of his hip joint and femur.
After a 10-month stay in the Foothills Hospital in Calgary, the Greene family found that Steven could no longer get himself in and out of the car with his new and larger wheelchair. As a result, the family found that they need a wheelchair-accessible van. A vehicle that will cost the family about $46,000- funds they are unable to provide. While he uses the Strathmore HandiBus to get around to appointments it costs them $60 every time he goes out which can become rather costly over time. Greene and his family would like to have the freedom to go where and when they want together. He would also like to go to university, either for music or to further his culinary passions.
The family set up a GoFundMe page and has approached a number of charities for help. They will also be taking part in the Newsy Neighbour’s 2nd Annual Get To Know Your Neighbour Festival where they will be hosting a dunk tank. The family is looking for help from the community; they need to raise about $10,000 more in order to get the van.
“Steven should be able to live the quality of live that he should live,” said his mom Connie Greene.
“Like any other 23-year-old that goes out and does what they choose to do. I want Steven to able to do the exact same thing with the help from our community that would make it possible for those things to happen for him.”
The Greenes’ ordeal has led them to point out the difficulties that people with disabilities have to deal with when it comes to mobility and getting around town. To help volunteer or come with a fundraiser idea contact Connie Greene at 403-499-9563 or email her at conniegreen72@gmail.com