Paralyzed MXer, Wes still needs our help !

http://www.wwltv.com/home/Action-Rep...114598859.html

by Bill Capo / Action Reporter
wwltv.com

Posted on January 25, 2011 at 6:46 PM


NEW ORLEANS -- Everything Wes Bandemer does requires a miracle of technology and intense concentration. The 20-year-old Morgan City resident is paralyzed from the shoulders down, and he has to use his head to guide his wheelchair.

"I'm a pretty happy person. Through this whole thing I've been humbled, and I know what makes me happy, and what I like to do, and I try to do everything I like."

St. Mary Parish Schools Instructional Supervisor Pete Boudreaux said, "It was sad. Wesley was a guy who played football. I believe there was a couple of colleges looking at him already as a sophomore."

Wes was a star football linebacker as a high school sophomore, but the hobby he loved was motocross racing. In 2006 the bike flipped, and Wes suffered a broken neck. But he is not mad about it.

"He makes choices every day to get up and be happy, and he knows that if he's angry, he is still going to be paralyzed the next day, so there is no point in being angry," said his mother Mechelle.

But after two surgeries and five weeks in intensive care, Wes went back to school, was homecoming king, graduated with his class, and went on to college to study mechanical drafting as a career.

"I think just like everybody else, I want to make a lot of money and have a lot of fun in life."

On Feb. 7, Wes will leave Morgan City for a medical clinic in New Delhi, India, for stem cell treatments designed to restore movement to his limbs. In some circles those treatments are thought to be controversial, but for Wes, it means high hope.

"What I'm hoping for would be to get control of my arms back, because you can live a full, independent life which is my main goal now, you know, the big house, nice cars," Wes said.

"I don't think you can put into words what it would give Wesley to be able to move his hands," added Pete Boudreaux.

They needed $60,000 for the treatments, and a year of fund raising events, even selling t-shirts bearing his racing number 417, through his website have brought in $55,000, so the final push is on.

"I want to be able to live on my own, feed myself, take care of myself, to also start a family, and have a normal life," Wes said.

"I see him doing those things because I know him, and I know he won't stop until he does it," said his mother Mechelle.

For more information about Wes Bandemer and his fight to regain use of his hands, or to make donations or see the items he is selling to raise funds, click here.