Husband’s Love for Wife With Multiple Sclerosis Knows No Bounds

• Rick and Jan Dorothy have been married for 15 years and Rick would do anything to help Jan in her Multiple Sclerosis (MS) journey.
• Rick built a rickshaw to bring along Jan on walks that they have enjoyed doing all these years even before the MS diagnosis.
• The custom-built rickshaw fits Jan comfortably while being effortless for Rick to pull on these long walks.

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As Rick Dorothy puts it, “Take life one day at a time, and when life throws a brick wall in front of you, just build a ladder and cross the wall. I know as long as my legs are still strong enough to walk, Jan and I will still have those long walks in the woods.”

Rick has been married to Jan for the past 15 years. They have worked together in a company where they met and fallen in love and when Rick lost his job, Jan was Rick’s left hand, helping out in production and keeping books.

As Rick put it, they built their woodworks together from cutting wood and making money out of it. They were happy and productive. Life was good to them.

One of their favorite things to do together was taking long walks.

But one day while out walking, they noticed Jan dragging her left foot. They thought maybe it would just go away but when they had it checked, the diagnosis was multiple sclerosis (MS).

Rick said that as they researched more on MS, the future seemed grim. “Jan till this day has never cried once, and has never complained, or felt sorry for herself. I wish I could say the same for myself. But I made up my mind that I would do everything in my power to make her life as normal as possible anyway I could. We made up our minds to not let it take away the life we loved.”

Jan can no longer take the long walks as her nerves have deteriorated. But an idea on how to take Jan on these walks came to Rick when he was watching a TV program— a rickshaw! They had old wooden wheels lying around. It was perfect for a rickshaw. And so, he built one and when they tried it, the rickshaw comfortably fit Jan!

Rick said, “It weighs 35 pounds and quickly breaks down to fit in our Subaru outback. Pulling her is nearly effortless even up small hills and we can be on and off the trails in minutes. It has a suspension system to provide a smooth comfy ride. I recycled the wheels which had been on a land sailer, a stroke rehabilitator, and my kids fun cart when they were little.”

Rick just proves that when you set your heart out to do something for a loved one, you will find a way. Have fun, Rick and Jan!

Source: Inspire More