Richard Peterson

“That’s Right, Flight!”

Not one foot touched one step on the staircase. 

My second life began when I took an uncharted, ticketless flight down the stairs of the home I share with my husband, James, careening face-first into a prized, framed 14″x17″ photograph of our wedding day, with shattered glass and blood spraying in all directions. 

Four infarctions later, I found myself in Critical Care with a Diagnosis of a Broken Neck at C3 (Cervical Vertebra #3) resulting in three days of unconsciousness and Quadriplegia. 

AKA: Spinal Cord/Head Injury (SCI).

This means I require a Wheelchair-Accessible Vehicle (WAV) for transportation, a Power Chair (motorized wheelchair), and I face exorbitant medical expenses.

Thus, the impetus for this appeal. 

This “Life-Altering” event took place in October 2024.  Since then, I have made considerable progress. More to come on this below….  

With considerable focus and effort, I am completely off the Ventilator, the Tracheostomy is healed, and there are no more feeding tubes. See photographs below.

Furthermore, the one-time Stage 4 Pressure Wound is healed after 12 months of painstaking treatment and care. 

You know, folks, upon reflection of the preceding paragraph, I should and will eventually have a great sense of accomplishment. 

Now, I look forward to reporting even more good news.

With a great deal of effort, I finally found a physician I can count on who has devoted his entire practice to SCI at National Rehabilitation Hospital (NRH). Check him out: Dr. Oscar Dimant.

With that said, I finally landed at the NRH as an inpatient for further Acute Care, which I sorely missed following the 100 days of Substandard Subacute Care and the 4+ months at home.

However, with pushing 12 months in this new reality already, I certainly have a long way to go before my Power Chair and my WAV arrive, with the support and assistance of the donor response here.

On that note, I have recovered some motion in my shoulders and elbows. I have learned how to use dictation commands on my cellphone, my “Lifeline to the Immediate World.”

Of course, as many of you have already witnessed, Siri has a language of her own and uses colorful language that I don’t even come close to saying.

Throughout the year since the incident, James has been at my side: through the ER, Critical Care, Acute Care in a distant city, where James was fortunate to have a place to sleep at his brother’s house, to Substandard Subacute Rehab, and finally back home.

James not only tends to all my needs, but maintains his full-time job, in addition to all of the pressure we are under, to which I am immensely contributing.

As for my contribution to additional pressure, it is very clear to me my egregious failure to everyone to maintain contact and keep you posted on my current journey.

Just imagine having no use of your hands to dress yourself, fingers to write (especially cards for all occasions), type (emails/texts), hold a toothbrush, fork and/or knife to feed yourself, and feet (to get out of bed), or attempting to do anything for yourself!

In reality, I can’t help but feel I am helpless in a hopeless situation.

Sadly, I have become quite the burden.

With that said, the loss of my income, which was a major contribution to our household, has caused us major hardship based on all the forthcoming expenses we are facing. 

The C3 fracture may have deprived me of my body, but not of my voice.  

As many of you already know, with my “Operatic Voice,” I can compete with any weather forecaster with a thunderstorm of words, even with my compromised lung capacity after my Lung Surgery and SCI in 2024. 

This means in my second life, I’m ill-fated to be a podcaster (for now, I think), sharing my and James’ experiences so others going through similar circumstances can be better prepared for the medical, bureaucratic, and logistical challenges that come with sudden paralysis, accompanied, of course, with a sense of humor. 

Evidently, as you can see, there is a meaning and fulfillment to be had in this second life.

I Have Now Structured My Life To:

“Believe in a Way Back!”

My passion has always been relationship-building. James and I have been a force in the LGBT+ community, bringing people together in ways that build sustainable friendships, in an organization we founded 8½ years ago, called GLASS (Gays and Lesbians Around Silver Spring).

GLASS is comprised of 140 Couples with a dead even split between women and men and we meet once a month and a nearby brewery, pretty much about 3 miles from everyone’s home, for exceptional dining, spirits and brew. 

Everyone in attendance thoroughly enjoys developing relationships within GLASS and advancing those friendships outside of GLASS.

We have also organized and facilitated our High School Reunions for 50 years, which will again take place in September 2026.  

And, with the help of your fellow classmates, I will somehow still be working at it from a Power Chair, and I will be in attendance.

Why not consider joining me in rebuilding old friendships in person versus a Fb posting? Reminisce about your teenage years, even with your rivals. It’s also a great way to see how much has changed in 50 years since our scintillating 70s.

I am often characterized as a networking demigod, helping people build their careers through introductions to hiring managers and negotiation skills.  

Underlying this zest for networking was an active social life; our compact sedan would be gone from the driveway more evenings than it was there, as the two of us attended a lot of live theater, (Pre-Covid, 75 shows per year between Broadway, Philadelphia, Baltimore and the Greater Washington Metropolitan area), social and business parties, and fundraising galas. 

Sadly, we haven’t been out of the house to attend such an event since October 2024.  

We have been climbing the walls this past year, working to adjust to our new reality. To be fair, I can’t climb walls, but I’ve made the case that I’m quite capable of crashing into them.

As for our “New Reality or New Normal,” I am having great difficulty buying into it, as so far, I find this way of life to be anything but normal. 

We desperately need a WAV, because people are concerned about our now-reclusive lifestyle, not to mention the sight of James climbing the window drapes versus the walls. 

In other news, Medicare has been very reasonable about picking up the major expenses like surgeries, treatment centers, doctor appointments, and more. 

However, sadly, Medicare is unwilling to pay and/ or reimburse us for any purchases made on Amazon.

As we all know, Amazon is the most inexpensive consumer purchasing vehicle of any kind and, to date, we have already spent thousands of dollars on medical supplies and related expenses which are not reimbursable. 

However, the good news here is Help Hope Live will pay or reimburse all Amazon-related charges as of September 30, 2025, when they accepted our application for enrollment.

On that note, just to give you an idea of the kind of expenses we are looking at, a used 25-year-old WAV with 100,000+ miles will cost in and around $25,000.

If we go with a newer model, in and around 2-4 years old, it will be $60,000+.

Our goal is $95,000 to purchase a WAV with electric lift, the Power Chair, and to cover ancillary medical expenses.

We have chosen Help Hope Live as our charity vehicle of choice for this fundraising appeal.  

Help Hope Live is a 501(c)3 non-profit with a 30-year history of providing fundraising assistance to individuals for injury-related expenses.  Help Hope Live assures fiscal accountability of funds raised and tax deductibility for donors. Donors can be assured that funds donated in my honor will be used only to pay or reimburse medically related expenses, as Help Hope Live retains all funds and pays my medical expenses directly.

Thus, I Do Not See a Dime! 

And that’s good news for everyone.

And now, for the home run news story after this long-winded message to all of you, “All of Your Tax-Deductible Donations” are Not Income to Me per IRS rules and regulations.

To make a tax-deductible donation in my honor, and Help Me Get Out of the House, please click on the yellow GIVE button.