By now you may have met Hospice by RVNA nurse, Betty Avery (pictured at left).  And by now, you may know that Betty often has a story up her sleeve.  All of which remarkably .. are true.

What you may not know is that Betty is also a Supreme Problem Solver.  Or at least that’s the title that one of her patients — a Wilton resident who Betty has cared for since mid-July — assigned Betty late last week.

Here’s why:  upon starting care, it didn’t take long for Betty to realize that he needed help getting around. Even short walks – partly across the room, to the door – left him breathless and uncomfortable. And in Betty’s mind, immobility was not an acceptable option. It wasn’t fair to either him or his wife.

But what to do?  Electric wheelchairs were an option, but prohibitively expensive. Betty did track down a company that partners with prisoners to refurbish plain wheelchairs, making some electric, and donates them to people in need. But getting the wheelchair to Wilton was beyond complicated. And electric wheelchairs can be potentially unwieldy within a home.

So Betty put her thinking cap on. A scooter would be a better option.

And in this big world of ours, Betty was certain that there was an unused scooter that needed a home. It was just a matter of finding it. So Betty started talking to people she knows. And it didn’t take long to find a match. With Mary Foley at Meadow Ridge Senior Living in Redding, CT.

Mary, Resident Service Coordinator at Meadow Ridge, knew the daughter of a resident was looking to give away a scooter. Her mother had passed away and she knew the scooter needed a new home.

So Betty gracefully accepted it, and she and Mary pushed that scooter into the back of Betty’s car and Betty drove it over to Wilton.  En route, recognizing that getting the scooter up to the second floor residence was going to pose an issue for her, Betty called the Wilton Police Department and asked for help.  (Not while driving, mind you.)  The Wilton PD was happy to oblige and Officer Sean came to the scene.  Betty and Officer Sean worked together to wheel in and present the treasure.

Imagine that. Imagine the surprise and delight of Betty’s patient and his wife.  To know that the love of their nurse could and would profoundly change their lives.

‘It Takes a Village’ is a lovely but often over-used phrase, but with this story, that phrase rings abundantly true.

Thank you to everyone in our Village who made this story come true: Mary Foley, our scooter donator, the Wilton Police Department, our precious patient and wife, and our own indomitable Betty Avery.