Lombard firm donates wheelchair to Elgin student

Southern Illinois University and the University of Iowa will soon be welcoming a prospective architecture student from Elgin.

Natalie Chastain will be able to make planned visits to the Midwestern campuses now that a local firm has offered to donate a wheelchair to replace the one that was stolen from Natalie's front yard last week.

Natalie's mother, Mary Chastain, says the manual chair, which would cost perhaps $5,000 to replace, was taken from the family's driveway Friday as she was getting her daughter ready to get on the bus. The Elgin High School senior has cerebral palsy.

Over the weekend, Chastain was flooded by offers of help, receiving almost 100 calls from people offering to donate wheelchairs or money; one man offered to hold a fundraiser. Elgin High School established a fund to accept donations to replace Natalie's chair.

Chastain said she and her daughter were floored by the outpouring of support.

"I believe that there are a lot of really good people out there, which a few days ago I didn't," Chastain said. "She was very excited."

Rehab Tech, a Lombard business that designs customized wheelchairs for its clients, contacted the Chastains on Monday after Ron Mack, a Rehab Tech employee who works in Elgin schools, learned of Natalie's situation.

"When he heard about her story, he sent me an article from the (Daily) Herald," said Michael Maggiore, manager of Rehab Tech. "We both decided it was something that we wanted to help with."

Rehab Tech plans to deliver the chair to Natalie's home by the middle of next week.

"We'll have a very good chance to turn something around for her quickly so she can go to school, make her college visits, go to the prom, do all the things she wants to do," Maggiore said.

Elgin High School will return checks to donors, according to a message sent by Principal Dave Smiley.

"In good faith we are returning your donation but we will not return the kindness and empathy you shared with us by your gesture," Smiley wrote in an e-mail to the donors.

Police are still investigating the missing wheelchair.

"We're still going to look to solve the case," Elgin police spokeswoman Sue Olafson said Tuesday. "We don't have anything new."

While rare, wheelchair thefts are not unheard of, Maggiore said. "As horrible as this appears, this is not the first time we've run into a situation like this," he said. "It happens more often than people think."

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<li><a href="/story/?id=408968">U-46: Wheelchair stolen from Elgin High student <span class="date">[9/17/10]</span></a></li>

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