NEW BEDFORD, MASS. (WHDH) - Marriage is about being there for each other for better or worse, in sickness and in health.
“It is a blessing,” says Sandra Ford.
Sandra and her husband Calvin are the embodiment of those vows.
“I’ll take care of him until I can’t do it anymore,” she says.
The New Bedford couple met 25 years ago. It was love at first sight.
“He was so different,” Sandra says of Calvin. “He treated me like a woman should be treated.”
About a year ago, the Ford’s love story took a dramatic turn. It’s a day Sandra can recite from memory: August 25, 2019. It was the middle of the night and Sandra heard a noise and realized Calvin had fallen out of bed.
“When I went to look at his face, I noticed the droop all on one side,” she says. “I said, ‘Oh my God, he’s had a stroke.'”
Her husband was fighting for his life.
“I almost lost him,” Sandra says.
Calvin spent three weeks in the hospital, then three months in a nursing home before Sandra was finally able to bring him home.
“When he came in the door, he cried,” she says. “He knew it was his house. He knew it was home. He was so happy to be home.”
Sandra has made a number of changes to their house to accommodate Calvin’s needs, including installing a ramp leading up to the house. With the help of a home nursing assistant, she takes care of his every need.
“I give him his medications, I flush his feeding tube,” Sandra says. “I make sure he’s clean all the time. I make sure he does well.”
She bathes him too. Earlier this year Sandra was on Facebook when she came across an ad for a portable bath tub.
“He needs this tub,” she says. “He needs to be in the tub because bathing in the bed is just not where you want him to be.”
She ordered the $300 tub, then anxiously waited for it to arrive. After several weeks and no delivery, Sandra started emailing the company.
“[They] kept telling me, ‘Oh well, don’t worry, it’s coming. It’s in transit, it’ll be here,'” she says.
But the clock kept ticking. Three months after Sandra placed her order, still no tub. She says the company refused to give her a refund.
“I said, ‘I want my money,’ and they said, ‘We can’t give it back to you,'” she says.
Worried that her money was going down the drain, Sandra called Solve It 7 for help.
We talked to a company representative about Sandra’s situation and why this tub was so important. They promised to look into her case and reach out directly.
“After I called Solve It 7, the next day my money was in the account!” she says.
Sandra got her refund and the company told us that if the tub ever does arrive, she can keep it for free.
“Channel 7 really solved my problem,” says Sandra. “And I thank you guys so much.”
She never gave up, because Sandra knows Calvin would have done the same for her. She says she’s hoping to use the money to purchase a different portable tub to get Calvin the care he needs.
“As long as we have each other and we’re together, that’s all I care about,” Sandra says.
Got a problem you can’t solve on your own? Maybe we can help. Send us an email at SolveIt7@WHDH.com or give us a call at 617-367-7777.
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