 Derry
News
Morris determined to
walk again, help others:
By Eric Parry,
Staff writer
DERRY — Tim Morris spends every second of
his life trying to walk again.
In 2007, the 27-year-old former Derry man crashed
his car and was paralyzed from the waist down.
One year later, things are looking better for
Morris. He is making progress in his rehabilitation
and he has been selected to be the beneficiary
of Sullivan Tire's annual charity golf tournament.
Paul Sullivan, vice president of the tire company,
said they chose Morris because he is still going
through an expensive rehabilitation program. Morris'
father has been an employee of the tire store
for more than 30 years, according to Sullivan.
"He is going to persevere," Sullivan
said. "The spirit is there, the will is there,
he just needs a little help financially."
Morris was bringing two friends home last July
after a rain storm when he took a corner too fast
off Interstate 93 and flipped his Jeep Grand Cherokee.
He wasn't wearing his seatbelt and went through
the moonroof of his SUV.
After spending a month in Massachusetts General
Hospital with a fractured neck, broken back, broken
ribs and a spinal cord injury, Morris finally
learned how to live again but used a wheelchair
to get around.
That wasn't good enough for Morris, who had worked
as a personal trainer at the Tewskbury, Mass.
Planet Fitness before the accident.
"My whole life was my body and being active,"
said Morris, who hopes to be walking next year.
Soon after getting out of the hospital, Morris
found a rehab center opening in Boston called
Journey Forward that specializes in helping paralyzed
people walk again. After six months of treatment
he can stand for about two minutes.
Though Morris has found success in his journey
to walk again, it hasn't come without a price.
Each rehab session is $100 an hour and he goes
for two hours at a time three times per week.
Friends set up a medical fund through various
fundraisers but that has been quickly depleted
since he began treatment in January.
Luckily, Sullivan said the fundraiser on July
31 should give Morris another $25,000 to help
with the rehab.
"I intend to walk again," he said.
"I'm not going to stop until I can do that."
And now that Morris has gone through months of
rehab he's changed his ideas about becoming a
physical education teacher, too.
Instead, Morris said he'd like to help other
paralyzed people walk again.
"Now I'm going to help others in similar
situations realize they can get past this,"
he said.
To register for the golf tournament or to sponsor
a hole, call Pat Greene at 781-982-1550.
For more information on Tim Morris's progress,
visit his Web site at www.fortimmy.org.
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