Town of Pompey (WSYR-TV) - A Massachusetts man is trying to make it into the Guinness Book of World Records as he makes a trek from Boston to California in his motorized wheelchair. Matt Eddy is a quadriplegic and the goal of his trip is to raise money and awareness of the need for housing for folks with severe disabilities.
Matt Eddy and his team of supporters have been on the road for 17-days now and only about 113 remain.
"I always wanted to see the country and I thought it'd be cool to drive my wheelchair to long beach," said Eddy.
Eddy has Duchenne muscular dystrophy, an aggressive and debilitating disease. "He was born normal, diagnosed at 4, and at 10 years old was in a wheelchair. When he was 23, his muscles were weaker and he ended up on a ventilator," explained Eddy's friend and caretaker Ron Steenbruggen.
The group was passing through Pompey hoping to raise money to build houses for people with severe disabilities. "A typical handicapped apartment has lowered countertops for someone who can use their upper body but people like Matt can't do anything for themselves," said Steenbruggen.
Their mission was sidelined for a night Sunday when the hills in Pompey along Route 20 proved to be too much for the chair. "I was driving fine all day and chair had a lot of power. Then that hill was so bad that halfway up, my battery died," said Eddy.
His chair had to be charged by generator, so he could finally make it the rest of the way up. That's when the Town of Pompey offered to let them stay behind town hall. "Food was brought in. Supplies to help them out and get them encouragement," said Town Supervisor Carole Marsh.
"People in Pompey were very hospitable, nice and went above and beyond to help us on our way," said Eddy.
You can
follow Matt Eddy's journey across the nation on his website.
