We met Tom on November 13, 2022 and struck up a friendship with him after noticing he looked out of place on the streets. "He doesn't belong out here..." I told my boyfriend Andy, every time we walked the dogs past Tom's spot near Circle K. We would bring homemade meals and hot toddies to keep the cold at bay and give Tom as much comfort as possible. Typically we would wash his blankets and clothes whenever it had rained so he wasn't sleeping in wet bedding and the cold. Tom has always been appreciative and never asked for things like this. Right before Christmas, we got a group of friends together to enjoy the APS light parade with Tom while sipping on hot chocolate and eating cookies. It was refreshing doing a social event instead of talking about all the heavy stuff about how Tom ended up on the streets and how we could help him turn things around.
Long story short, Tom got into a bad car accident last year while driving for Lyft, and it set him back quite a bit. So much so, that he started living on the streets while finding work at the stadium and side jobs at car auctions. Resolving things from the accident continued and eventually Tom paid off the ticket and was able to clear his record in order to start driving for Lyft again. However, the cold weather and living on the streets caused him to get very sick at the end of January 2023 and we got a text from him asking if we could charge his phone. Tom NEVER asked us for any favors, so we walked right over to grab his phone. We never expected to see our friend so weak and were alarmed when he could barely lean up to say hello. Normally he was in good spirits and cracking jokes, but this time he seemed so out of it and in a great deal of pain. He said he couldn't breathe or hold urine and that he planned to go to the hospital the next day. We tried to take him in that night, but he refused so we headed home to charge his phone with the shattered screen. When we came back the next morning, Tom was even worse. We had to physically help him into the car because he was unable to hold himself up and had to lean to one side just to breathe. Not to mention his bad knees too. The surgeon said if he had stayed on the streets one night longer, he wouldn't have survived. Turns out, Tom had a collapsed and infected lung which was full of mucus and needed surgery right away. He texted with us for the first few days he was in the ICU but then went silent. After calling the hospital, we found out he'd been sedated to accommodate being put on a ventilator. He had tubes all over his body to drain the fluid from his lungs and prevent further infection. We were shocked when we saw him on our first visit and he was very agitated. Our second visit to the ICU, he was not able to speak after the ventilator was taken out, so we soaked a paper towel and let him suck on that to help relieve the dryness and discomfort. The nurses were wonderful and we felt peace every night knowing that Tom was sleeping in a warm bed and not on the streets. After 3 weeks in the ICU, he was moved to a rehab facility for another 3 weeks to start physical therapy. We visited him there last Sunday and took the last photo with the three of us.
Tom has been working with a case worker and speaking with organizations like A New Leaf, CASS and Phoenix Rescue Mission. Tom is looking better each day and from our last conversation with him, he was supposed to be leaving the rehab center today. We'd hoped to get this campaign going sooner, but now is better than never. We love Tom very much and don't want to see him on the streets again.
We set the fundraising goal to 5k in order to be able to get him wheels to drive again for Lyft and maybe even put down a deposit for an apartment for our friend. We would love to give him good news that he has the means to drive again and give him a hand up.
Vehicle requirements for Lyft here.
Thank you so much for reading and sharing Tom's story, he truly is a wonderful human.
Best,
Lacey & Andy
