DINWIDDIE COUNTY, Va. -- A woman left paralyzed from the neck down in a car accident when she was nine years old is asking for the community's help to repair her aging home.
Takisha Blackwell said her troubles started when her mother, who was her caregiver since that fateful day almost 30 years ago, died of breast cancer in October.
"Well, I'm a quadriplegic," Blackwell told WTVR CBS senior reporter Wayne Covil from inside her living room.
Blackwell is trying to keep her home together, but on a fixed income, she said it is difficult and that repairs are stacking up.
"You can see in the bathroom that the ceiling is coming down," Blackwell said.
There are electrical concerns with the breaker tripping and the floor in several areas of the small mobile home are sagging.
One of the most troubling issues is the bathroom.
"I can't go in the bathroom and have a shower because my wheelchair doesn't fit in there," Blackwell said.
While the mobile home was purchased after the accident, it was not designed for an electric wheel chair.
"It was never equipped for me, it was just, I can get in the house, I can go in my room, I can come in the living room," Blackwell said.
The concern over the repairs is to keep the home livable because otherwise she would have to move to some type of assisted living facility.
Saralda Roney, her caregiver, said she hopes the community will rally around Blackwell to repair her home.
It's a good donation for someone in wheelchair that really needs it," Roney said.
Click here if you would like to donate to Blackwell's GoFundMe accountor know of someone who could help repair her home.
