WOFFORD HEIGHTS, CA - More than a dozen people with the Armed Forces Support Riders Organization got together Sunday to escort the wheelchair ramp, giving 92-year-old Rose Gooch, something special.
It was a show of support on Rosedale Highway Sunday morning. People from the Armed Forces Support Riders Organization made a special trip from Bakersfield to Wofford Heights, escorting a ramp. "It's nice to know now our burden is going to be lessened because we are going to be able to use the ramp and get her down in a wheelchair to a car and to the doctors," says Sharon Gooch.
Since December, 92-year-old Rose Gooch has been homebound after falling in her bathroom, fracturing her foot. Her family says they had to hire in-home medical care. Since she didn't have a wheelchair ramp, she couldn't leave her home.
Now, that will soon change. "It's just a good bunch of people coming together to help their neighbors," adds Gooch.
Along with the support riders, volunteers and a few Boy Scouts were on hand to help assemble the ramp. "We put these rides together to support the veterans in Kern County," says Larry Jillette with the Kern County Support Riders.
Gooch's husband was a World War II veteran. When the Kern County Veterans Service Department got word she didn't have a wheelchair ramp, they offered to help, along with the community, who raised hundreds of dollars to help make it happen. "It means a lot to us because we're helping somebody. Her husband fought in the war and did a lot for us," adds Gooch.
"She hasn't been out of the house since the first part of December and now she can go out and enjoy the fresh air and be able to go visit doctors. We'll be able to sleep easier at night."
The Armed Forces Support Riders Organization was formed in 2006. The riders also make trips to the Grapevine, escorting recruits who join the service.
