Moses "Unwavering Faith"
Story brought to you in partnership with our friends at Mercy’s MSU Care Clinic
Photo by Randy Bacon
I was born in Ft Worth, Texas into a family of three kids--elder sister and younger brother. My parents loved us and took care of us. My Dad was in the military and after that became a minister. Along the way, he acquired two master’s degrees which enabled him to do other jobs. These jobs became blessings for the family. Mom was a homemaker and took care of us kids, helped at the church, and was always there when someone needed help.
Times weren’t always good for us in the beginning. We would go to the cotton fields in Texas and pick cotton. My Mom sewed a toe sack for me to pick cotton—this was before I started school; I was five or six. Dad was gone a lot at school. He wanted to get an education so that we would have a better life. He was very motivated. Once, my dad took me to get a haircut in this small town of 300 people. The barber replied, “No, we don’t cut Mexican’s hair here.” My father replied, “God bless you and thank you.” That was the kind of man my Dad was.
I went to college in Texas and took sign language classes. I spent a lot of time volunteering at the Amarillo Speech and Hearing Center. Later, I went to work at the Regional School for the deaf at Fort Worth, Texas. I had 5 part-time jobs. I lost interest in school and left college, although I do always enjoy learning. I am extremely organized. My closet is organized by color and style, no collars first, then collars, short-sleeve, long-sleeve, and all categories are colorized. My organizational skills have helped me in all the jobs I’ve had. I got my first motorcycle when I was 25. I loved it and all my friends rode bikes.
The day of the accident… It was a beautiful day, so I rode my bike. On the way back, on a long, sweeping curve, I saw a truck coming. I was near the line. I moved to get further away and thought I had clearance. I think the other driver was on the line. We collided. I said to myself, “I can’t believe this is fixing to happen.” I remember hitting the truck. The next thing I remember I’m holding myself up on one arm in the road. I was moaning and I see a piece of my leg hanging out. Then, I saw myself in the road from about 6 feet away--it was an actual out of body experience. The next thing I saw was a perfect bright red ribbon running down the highway. It was frothy. I realized immediately it was my blood, but I couldn’t tell where it was coming from because I couldn’t see the other side of my leg. Although I was aware that I was moaning, and I was aware I couldn’t move, I was not in pain. I didn’t feel what had happened to my leg or feel my broken arm. It was broken in 7 places. The next thing I remember was a lady saying, “Somebody call 911!”. I spent 11 days at Mercy Hospital and another 8 days at Mercy Rehab Hospital in Ozark after that.
Mercy has been very merciful to me. They took excellent care of me. The doctors were great, the nurses were great. Everything was clean and comfortable. I didn’t want to leave. I felt safe and secure. Now, I feel more vulnerable than I ever have in my life. I feel like I could be an easy target, or that people might think that I’m an easy target, or weak. Of course, they don’t know how many knives or other forms of protection I carry! I’ve learned how to protect myself. When I was younger, I was bullied. I wasn’t very big, my name is Moses, I was a new kid at school, and I was Mexican…I learned to stand up to bullies. I stood up for myself and I stood up for others. I became a protector.
Then, as soon as I had the accident, I became indigent. MSU Care came to my rescue. I don’t have a prosthetic yet--I’m still working on getting one. My journey after losing a leg is just beginning. I think one of the reasons I have healed so quickly is that I’ve always been active. I’ve had physical jobs, always exercised. I eat healthy. I have the “Total Gym” that Chuck Norris hawks. It helps keep me fit. I’m mobile with crutches, a walker, and wheelchair, but I’m still hopping around for a while until I get my prosthetic.
I have had some set-backs. I put down $10,000 earnest money on a house by leasing it from the owner. I paid that upfront. I made a lot of improvements to it; I put two years of work into that house. I was in the process of securing a loan for the balance when I had my accident. I went from two jobs to no jobs. I was not allowed to work while I was recovering from the motorcycle accident. I lost around $24,000. I’m currently staying with my good friend, who is helping me out until I can get back on my feet. I’m planning on moving into a park model, which is kind of a like a large RV or half a trailer. Once the repairs are done, I will move in.
All my life I have tried to help people. If I noticed someone was short on money, I would pay for their meal or hand them a few dollars. I think that has come back to me. It’s been amazing, how many people have helped me. A friend I hadn’t seen in about 20 years heard about the accident on Facebook and came to visit. He drove up from Bentonville, spent the entire day packing up my bedroom and took me to lunch. There have been many examples of kindness and generosity. Home Depot is holding my job for me until I’m able to return to work. My work family at Home Depot has been very supportive and kind to me. They secured a grant to put a new roof on my park model, and volunteers from work helped pack and move my belongings. I am very grateful to all who helped.
I’ve kept my sense of humor. I joke about it. Since the accident, I tell people I’m a foot shorter, ha! but when I get a leg up on this thing, I’ll be walking, not hopping! I will always ride and I plan on riding again when I am able. MY BELIEF AND FAITH IN GOD HAS NEVER WAVERED.
“For many in our community, routine doctor visits and prescription medications are far too expensive to access. Every day, people are forced to choose between food and medication or delay treatment for health issues until they are life threatening due to an inability to pay. MSU and Mercy partnered together to break the cycle of poor health and offer hope for the uninsured in our community. The only clinic of its kind in Missouri, the MSU Care Clinic offers uninsured patients top-quality primary care and prescription medications completely free of charge. We know every story—every person—has tremendous value. That is why at MSU Care, we are proud to give compassionate care and exceptional service at no charge to those in the greatest need.”
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