Brashinger: Local family thankful for gift of wheelchair

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Andy Hill (left), 19, and Connor Gill, 18, watch the talent show at the “Have a Heart for Connor” fundraiser. | Supplied Photo

Updated: March 6, 2012 8:05AM

More than 800 people showed up at Summit Hill Junior High in Frankfort Square on Jan. 27 to support the Gill family and dozens of volunteers who wanted to help raise $38,000 for a new wheelchair for Connor Gill, 18.

Jennifer and Jim Gill said they were “speechless.”

“I couldn’t believe the amount of people who came,” Jennifer said after the Frankfort Lions Club fundraiser for her son.

Because of Connor’s congenital condition, arthrogryposis, a disorder in which joints are permanently fixed in a contracted position, he is unable to use his arms or legs and is verbally impaired.

The Gills said his electronic wheelchair has given him a limited amount of mobility that Connor uses to cruise the neighborhood when he is not in school. It seems virtually everyone knows Connor around his Tinley Park-Frankfort Square neighborhood, so people began to miss him when he wasn’t around.

“Even the guys at the fire station asked where he was,” Jennifer said.

Connor was most likely home, confined to his room, because the wheelchair, only a year old, continually broke down. To make matters worse, a family van equipped with a lift was also in need of repair and the Gills did not have the money to fix it.

It had been a rough year.

Jennifer was out of work with a broken foot for a part of 2011 and Jim, who has a daily role as Connor’s caretaker, has not been able to find work in the area.

But the fundraiser that Jennifer called a “whirlwind” has gone a long way to bring the Gills some relief.

Denise Lenz, part of a hard-working eight-member committee who put the event together, said the proceeds at the door topped $4,000 and the sale of food, silent auction items, and raffle tickets added more then $7,000 more. Add in the sale of the February lottery game/raffle tickets, and things are looking very good.

“We’re at the $20,000 mark, a little over half-way there,” Lenz said.

Jennifer said besides the funds raised, a lady has offered her deceased husband’s electronic chair as a backup, and an anonymous benefactor has taken on the costs of fixing the family van.

Jennifer said when they heard about it, “we cried for days.”

Connor cried, too, when he received an iPad at the fundraiser, a tool that will enhance his ability to communicate by giving him an electronic voice.

As Connor sat with his friends during the evening’s activities, he texted messages indicating that he couldn’t believe all the people who had come out for him and that he didn’t deserve it.

”This is craaZZy!” he texted to me when I asked what he thought of the event.

But there was no question in the minds of others that Connor getting his wheels back was a worthwhile venture.

Connor may not realize it, but he’s an inspiration in his school and in his community, and he’s been missed in the neighborhood.

The Gills are grateful and want to thank everyone. They said they would like to have taken care of it, but, as Jim said, “It just finally caught up with us.”

“I can’t believe the generosity of people who don’t even know us,” Jennifer said. “We’re very blessed. We’re just happy to have friends who care.”

Go to www.frankfortlionsclub.com to make a donation on PayPal or send a check to Frankfort Lions Club, P.O. Box 223, Frankfort, IL 60423.