Gage needs knee replacement
Dan Gage doesn’t have plans for what he will do after he gets a new knee.
It will just be nice, he said, to not be in constant pain.
He might go to a museum or take a hike. He might fish, if the weather is still warm enough. And he’ll continue to work at the Bella Vista Recycling Center.
Gage came to the center as a volunteer, working with a group from Rogers that needed the grants the center passes out to organizations based on volunteer hours. When he was offered one of the few paying jobs at the center, he was happy to take it. Now, he’s a supervisor five days a week including every weekend. Someone has to be there on weekends, he explained, when the community service workers are there. He’s paid as a contract worker, so there’s no
health insurance or sick days.
He spent much of his working life as an electrician — and electricians spend a lot of time on their knees. He thinks that’s what started his knee problems. Two or three winters ago, he fell and injured his left knee. Now, he said, when he moves his knee, the bones scrape. Steroids don’t help much and he doesn’t like being on pain killers all the time.
He can’t afford the surgery the doctors want to perform — a total knee replacement. He has a health insurance policy that will pay 80 percent, but he can’t pay the remaining 20 percent and he can’t afford to miss two or three months of work for rehabilitation. So he continues soldiering on with one good knee and one very bad knee.
Ken Nelson was volunteering at the Recycling Center with the Bella Vista Computer Club when he heard Dan’s story.
It didn’t seem right, Nelson said, that a man would have to live in constant pain when there is a way to cure it. He believes $ 10,000 will not only pay the 20 percent copay for surgery, it will also give Dan three months time to recuperate. So Nelson decided to raise the money.
Nelson’s first stop was Arvest Bank, where he opened an account and named it, “Danny Gage Knee Replacement Account.” Anyone can make a deposit into the account at any Arvest branch, he said.
People ask Nelson why he didn’t set up an Internet fundraiser like “Go Fund Me.” Nelson’s simple answer: Those take a certain amount of the funds raised. Arvest won’t take anything. All the money donated will go to Danny for his medical and living expenses.
After retiring from a career in marketing, Nelson knows a little about fundraising. He’s spread- ing the word, hanging up posters and keeping track of donations with a donor thermometer at the recycling center. When Dan goes for his next doctor’s appointment in August, Nelson hopes to have the money ready so he can schedule his surgery.
Danny Gage can be reached at the Bella Vista Recycling Center and Nelson can be contacted at knk73@ cox. net.