OKC Veteran's Family Donates Speech Device To Theft Victims

Tears of despair have been replaced by tears of a different kind for family and friends of an 11-year-old special-needs girl, who is wheelchair-bound and can’t speak. 

Last weekend, home burglars swiped a $15,000 “Tobii” device the girl uses to communicate, by using the movement of her eyes. Thursday afternoon, the family of Vietnam-era Air Force medic, Marion Parker, gave his old Tobii device to the young girl’s family. 

Parker died last October, after battling Lou Gehrig’s Disease. Charlotte Parker is Marion’s widow.

“He loved kids, and it would have made him feel really good, and I know he’s really happy that this is where it’s going to, someone who can really use it,” she said. 

The child’s name is “Mia”.  She attends “Special Care,” in Northwest Oklahoma City.  Oklahoma City’s VA Hospital gave Parker his Tobii device in March 2015, shortly after he was diagnosed with ALS.