A $500 check
fell out of the first envelope.
The second envelope also contained a check - for
$360.
The third envelope held yet another check for
$100.
Thanks to the amazing generosity of three
readers of The Tampa Tribune, Carol Coveleskie
will be able to pay for "always on"
Internet service for about two years.
Time Warner is installing Road Runner for
Coveleskie without charge today. The company
also is giving her a reduced rate on her service
for a while.
I wrote about Coveleskie, a Tampa native
paralyzed in 1995 by spinal bone spurs, on April
7.
A quadriplegic, she stays in touch with family,
friends and other quads via the computer.
Such contact is vitally important to her. The
communication with other quads even gave her the
confidence and motivation to seek new doctors
last year, which led to surgery and therapy that
vastly improved her condition.
Her hands are no longer like claws because of
tightened muscles and tendons, and she has
additional movement in her shoulders. That wider
range of motion allows her to do more for
herself, including even feeding herself for the
first time since her paralysis.
Until today, she had a "dial-up"
Internet connection that was difficult for her
to use and almost impossible to use in an
emergency.
Enter The "Shining Star'
Steve McDermott, a Hillsborough County sheriff's
deputy who met Coveleskie answering a 911 call
at her home, tried without success to have an
"always on" service donated.
Because his introduction to Coveleskie came
because a caregiver - not the first - had stolen
from the vulnerable widow, he worries about her
safety. She must have help to get out of bed,
dress, bathe and tend to her personal needs. She
has no physical ability to defend or save
herself in a crisis.
McDermott kept in touch and stopped by regularly
to see how she was doing and to be sure she was
OK.
When her old computer crashed, McDermott raised
$1,000 from other deputies for a new one.
Coveleskie lives on a small, fixed income out of
which she must pay for her caregiver. Buying a
new computer was out of the question.
A local computer company owner, got the hardware
at cost and built a computer for Coveleskie that
suited her physical needs.
But the quest for "always on" Internet
service eluded McDermott, whom Coveleskie has
come to call her "Shining Star."
So he turned to Tribune readers for help.
Kindness Of Strangers
I can't tell you who donated the money. Two are
retirees and neither is rich. One is from Pasco
County, the other from Hernando County. Their
touching generosity, spurred by immense hearts,
spans distance and county lines.
The third donor is a Pinellas County
psychologist also with a heart of gold.
Coveleskie should be up and running today. There
also are some other things in the works that
we'll let you know about when they gel.
She is thrilled. So is McDermott.
So am I.
Ours is a community with a sweet, deep well of
generosity no better symbolized than by a gruff,
good-hearted cop, a longtime computer guy, two
retirees and a psychologist - all of whom
reached out without caution or question to a
woman in need.
Stories can't get much better.
Section: BAYLIFE Page: 1
Judy
Hill can be
reached at (813) 259-7812
or by writing her c/o
The Tampa Tribune
P.O. Box 191
Tampa FL 33601
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