Viewer Helps An OKC Woman Paralyzed By A Gunman

Last month, News 9 went back to visit Cheryl Ruaylarp at her new home in Guthrie, to see how she was doing. And at that time she said the only thing holding her back was not having a handicap accessible van with a wheelchair lift.

Well, a viewer heard her plea, and gave News 9 a call.

It may not have looked like much, but the dusty piece of steel that was on Linda Miller's porch was a gateway to freedom.

Miller said it helped her handicapped husband get around town for years. But now he has a new one, and she wanted to donate the old one to someone who could really use it.

Donate it to someone, like Cheryl.

“Needy helping the needy,” said Miller. “I feel like I'm passing it forward in God's eyes. You know I'm not doing it with money or food or anything, but I am helping with something that she needs. It's a needed thing!”

With a little help from the Woodmen of the World Association, Miller was able to get it loaded up and transported from her home in Harrah, all the way to Cheryl's new home in Guthrie.

“Oklahomans helping Oklahomans is what we are all about,” said Stephen Priest, who donated the manpower and truck to haul the lift across town.

Miller even gave Cheryl Ruaylarp a call about her donation.

It was the call Cheryl had been waiting for.

“Yes, yes there are kind people out there,” said Ruaylarp.

“She felt so blessed,” said Miller. “And I felt blessed giving it to her!”

But the car Cheryl had before has busted out windows and carries too many bad memories. And it is not handicap accessible.

Now that Cheryl has the lift, she is hoping someone can help her get a van.

“I used to drive,” said Ruaylarp, whose husband is on disability. “And I love driving, you know? And now I just can't get to go anywhere. So, I was kind of heartbroken.”

But now she has started a Go Fund Me account, hoping it can help heal her broken heart.

She shares her story of survival on that page and how she moved to escape the memory of the shooting, about their lack of income, and about her dream to venture outside of her apartment again.

12/26/14 Related Story: One Year Later: OKC Woman Paralyzed By Gunman Speaks Of Hope

She hopes it raises enough money so she can buy that van herself. She hopes it allows her to get out and about, and on with life.