49ers football coach Bill Poggi visits John at the Charlotte basketball game
Feb. 8. By Dave Yochum. More than $50,000 has been raised so far as John McCurdy, a resident of the Heritage Green neighborhood, prepares to undertake a new life in the same house he has lived in for 20 years.
The immaculate two-story home will have ramps for his high-tech wheelchair, wider doorways and a master suite downstairs.
Maybe in another six months, he’ll be able to maneuver on his own, back upstairs, on prosthetic arms and legs.
Medical calamity
The 50-year-old’s limbs were amputated to prioritize blood flow to his brain and heart after infections, sepsis and septic shock caused multiple organs to fail in early September. Apparently the infection began in his defibrillator.
McCurdy’s had cerebral palsy since birth, but never got a handicap plate despite walking with a limp, all the while having a successful 26-year career with White Cap Construction Supply in Charlotte.
John, with mom Alice Rullman
Deep faith, family, friends
A deep faith as well as a supportive family, church and wide circle of friends has helped see him through a life change that seems to have slowed him down only for a while.
He works every day on walking, eating with a hook-like metal hand. His most frequent visitor: His mother Alice Rullman, who last week lost her husband, Andrew, John’s step-father, who was also devoted to John’s recovery.
This past weekend the Charlotte grad attended the 49ers basketball game as well as services at Lake Norman Lutheran in Denver on Sunday. McCurdy went by his house for the first time in five months, having been hospitalized all this time. Right now he’s in Randolph Gardens Health & Rehab in Charlotte.
Recovery, rebuilding
There is a GoFundMe account (John’s Journey Home) as well as a special fund at Lake Norman Lutheran.
Funds are needed for an extensive home remodeling, accessible bathroom, motorized wheelchair, furniture, ramps, lifting and mobility equipment, and other expenses not covered by insurance.
For a video of John’s journey home, click here.
