Friends build wheelchair ramp for local man

RITZVILLE — Pete Collard and his family came home to a much-needed gift March 10.

Collard was returning from a stay in rehabilitative nursing home in Moses Lake after a stroke landed him in Sacred Heart Hospital in Spokane at the end of December. The homecoming would have been difficult, were it not for the newly-constructed wheelchair ramp leading up to his front door.

"I went in and saw Ryo (Olson) working at the post office, and he said he heard about the difficulties we were having, and he offered to assist," said Collard's wife, Jan, who mentioned the need to be able to roll her husband in and out of the house.

"Ryo asked if we could make it happen for them," said Phil Peterson, who owns Man with the Yellow Truck handyman services. "Harry Schafer, a friend of the Collards, said he would do the research to make sure it was built with ADA (Americans with Disabilities Act) specs."

"Harry designed it, and he loves to work with wood, so I figured he was the perfect man to build the ramp," said Jan Collard. "And he was. It is beautiful."

She said the project was the first thing to inspire her husband following the stroke.

"I tried to keep him apprised of all the activities going on, and one thing that really made a difference for him at Sacred Heart was when I told them they were talking about building a ramp," Jan Collard said. "He got really excited and started talking about what supplies they would need and how he would get them. It really peaked his interest, and got him excited. It was the first time he showed interest in external activities. He was out of it for awhile after the stroke. It was the one thing that really made a difference for him."

Pete Collard, age 65, worked as a maintenance man at the Adams House Apartments before the stroke left him unable to work.

"He really wanted to help figure out the project," Jan Collard said.

The crew got the ramp built the day before Pete Collard returned home.

"The community really has shown that they come together when there is a need," said Peterson.

Jan Collard said her husband continues to improve at home.

"The improvements are awesome. He's getting better every day," Jan Collard said. "It's fortuitous. God is good."