One year after experiencing a serious car accident and losing her apartment in the Boulder flood, Deryl G. is on the road to recovery. She’s got a new place and is driving again, though cautiously.
After an accident totaled her car and left her with a broken heel that severely limited her mobility, Deryl called Via to get a ride to her first medical appointment following the accident. That ride was scheduled for Friday, Sept. 13, 2013, but never occurred because Deryl had to be evacuated from her flooded Boulder apartment the evening before the appointment.
Deryl’s rescuers carried her out of the apartment, and another rescuer – a friend – took her home and helped her through those first weeks after the flood and the accident. While she was grateful for the friends who cared for her after the accident and the flood, Deryl said she never expected to be in a position where she was so dependent on others.
Using Via’s paratransit service for rides to medical appointments helped her regain her independence.
“I was grateful for all my friends did and for their many offers of help, but I didn’t want to keep using them,” Deryl said. “It felt so good to be able to say ‘Thank you, but I don’t need you to give me a ride because Via is coming.’”
Deryl used Via for about three months, primarily for medical appointments related to her rehabilitation but also for occasional grocery trips.
“I don’t know what I would have done without Via,” she said. “I’m so glad that Via is around, especially for someone like me who doesn’t have family nearby. Via was my savior.”
In addition to serving older adults and people with disabilities, Via’s on-demand, call-up, door-to-door transportation service is available for people, like Deryl, who experience temporary disabilities.