Once Pronounced Dead,
Charlie Found New Life at Goodwill

August 20th, 1992 was a day that Charlie Sheets hardly remembers, but also a day he will never forget! Charlie was simply taking his daily bus ride home, when he got off at his usual stop and began to cross the street as he had done a hundred times before. Only this time, Charlie didn't see a car coming as he stepped off the sidewalk. Charlie was hit by the automobile traveling at over 40 miles per hour. The impact lifted him off the ground and tossed Charlie down the road like a rag doll. He suffered serious head trauma and had his right leg severely broken. When the paramedics arrived, Charlie was declared dead at the scene. The amazing medical technicians wouldn't give up though and they began trying to resuscitate him. After several agonizing minutes, they miraculously brought Charlie back to life! However, this was just the beginning of Charlie's extraordinary recovery.

Charlie had to have pins and rods inserted in his right leg and he was in a coma for 21 days. Soon after coming out of the coma one of the rods broke and Charlie had to have the bones in his leg grafted. He was also suffering from severe memory problems as a result of his head injuries.

When Charlie was well enough, he was moved to the National Rehabilitation Hospital at Washington Hospital center, where he was an inpatient for 4 months and underwent outpatient therapy for the next three years.

This gave Charlie plenty of time to think about the choices he had made early in life. He dropped out of high school when he was 15. “I didn't have much interest in school at the time”, Charlie says. “It just wasn't for me”. He regretted that decision now. Since quitting school, Charlie had worked as a roofer, but after the traffic accident, this was no longer an option. Charlie was in a wheelchair and didn't know if he would ever walk again. Even worse, he couldn't see a future because he had no other job skills.

Charlie came to Goodwill of Greater Washington in August 1997. He was referred by a counselor at the Maryland Rehabilitation Center. Charlie enrolled in Goodwill's work adjustment training program, which helps people with disabilities by teaching them how to get back into the workforce through on-the-job training.

After his first week in the training course, Charlie's supervisor handed him a paycheck. “It was the first paycheck I'd had in more than 5 years,” he says. “I was so excited just to get training that when I got the paycheck I was shocked. I had a big smile on my face.” Not long afterward, Goodwill gave Charlie a full-time job working in its donations processing center, where he assembled and sorted donated toys and furniture that were to be sold in Goodwill's retail stores.

But Charlie didn't want to stop there. He now understood the value of an education. Charlie wanted to continue learning new job skills while he rehabilitated. He wanted to learn to work and to walk again. Charlie recently graduated from a computer training course and is now employed as a Data Entry Associate with Goodwill of Greater Washington. “I enjoy getting up and going to work everyday. I really enjoy my job. Not many people can say that and mean it”, he told us.

Charlie's memory has improved significantly since that tragic day in 1992. He has even started to go bowling again with some of his friends and enjoys catching baseball games when he can find the time. Oh and by the way, Charlie no longer needs his wheelchair.

The doctors gave Charlie back his life. But Goodwill helped him rebuild it!

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