Broken wheelchair curbs Frankfort teen’s independence

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Connor Gill, who is battling several congenital conditions, gets his hair cut as part of a St. Baldrick’s fundraiser. | Ginger Brashinger~For Sun-Times Media

Updated: February 21, 2012 8:14AM

Friends of Connor Gill are teaming up to help the teen get his wheels back.

The goal of an upcoming benefit, “Have a Heart for Connor,” is to put him back in a working wheelchair, which Connor calls “my legs.”

“He lives in his wheelchair,” said Jennifer Gill, Connor’s mother. “Anyone out in the neighborhood knows who Connor is. He’s out there eight hours a day in his chair.”

Gill, 18, lost that independence several months back when a motorized wheelchair with touch electronics broke down again. That has happened multiple times since the Gills got the chair about 18 months ago.

Gill, a graduate of Lincoln-Way North High School — he was the prom king last year — is dependent on others because of multiple congenital conditions, including arthrogryposis, a disorder in which joints are permanently fixed in a contracted position.

Jennifer Gill said because Connor cannot use his arms or legs and is verbally impaired, various functions of the wheelchair allow him some independent mobility, allow him to recline and roll into bed on his own through the touch electronics and allow him to access his iPhone, which has become a major means of communication.

“It’s the little amount of independence he has,” Jennifer Gill said.

The chair had a one-year warranty, and Gill said insurance will replace the chair every three years. Meanwhile, costly repairs have been a drain on the family’s resources and leave Connor without a chair — confined to his bed and home — sometimes for weeks at a time.

Still, Jennifer Gills said the family always has been able to manage and believes there are others with even greater needs. They would like nothing more than to meet Connor’s needs without taking any resources from others.

But it’s been “an extremely rough year” for the family.

Jim Gill, who took early retirement hoping to find work closer to home after 28 years with Dominick’s, has not been able to find work yet, and the family is on a temporary health insurance plan.

Jennifer Gill, who works as a nurse at Little Company of Mary Hospital and for SouthStar Services helping adults with disabilities, broke her foot in 2011 and just returned to work in the fall.

The family’s handicapped-accessible van is broken, and they have been unable to afford the $8,000 repair to the lift that would get Connor in and out of the van.

Sometimes you just need a little help from your friends.

One of those friends, Connie Blondin, understood the family’s needs and solicited help from neighbors, the elementary and high schools Connor attended and the Frankfort Lions Club.

Denise Lenz, a Frankfort Lions Club member, is coordinating “Have a Heart for Connor,” featuring a talent show, vendors, silent auction and bake sale. Lenz said the goal is to raise $20,000 for repairs to the chair or $38,000 for a new chair for Connor.

Lenz said “high-ticket” silent auction items already have come in.

The talent show is a kickoff to a monthlong February raffle that will use the Illinois Lottery’s “Pick 3” evening drawings as its numbers, giving participants multiple opportunities to win.

“We hope to raise $10,000 out of the benefit night alone,” Lenz said. “I know there are people in this community that can make things happen.”