Eastpointe woman with muscular dystrophy needs home ramp before she can get power wheelchair

EASTPOINTE, Mich. (FOX 2) - Unless Susan Myers can find some help with a wheelchair ramp, she is virtually a prisoner in her own home.

Myers was born with Duchenne muscular dystrophy - a fatal muscle disease that overtime causes muscle degeneration.

"I just get weaker, nothing they can do about it," she said.

About a decade ago it became tougher to walk. Myers struggles to get around with her walker. Last year the 54-year-old was told by her neurologist it was time for a power wheelchair.

"I get frustrated a lot," she said. "I can't go up and down steps anymore, I have trouble getting out of chairs, getting out of bed, I have trouble taking a shower, using the toilet."

Myers put in a request for a wheelchair through Medicare, but she says was denied. She has to start the process over. 

In the meantime, the Muscular Dystrophy Association agreed to give her a loaner chair. But there was no way for Myers to get in and out of her Eastpointe house.

"'They said we can't bring it in, because you don't have a ramp (so they took) it back to the store room,'" said Myers.

In her desperation, she is on a fixed income and wrote a letter to FOX 2 looking for help. She can't get a wheelchair without a ramp, but she can't afford a ramp.

"I feel like I am stuck between a rock and a hard place," said Myers. 

Right now she feels trapped in her own home. She can't even get to her neurologist so she can make a new claim for a wheelchair.

She is hoping someone will find it in their heart to help build her a ramp so she can regain her freedom.

"Please help me so I can have the mobility to get around like everyone else," she said.

If you think you can Susan Myers, contact reporter Taryn Asher on Facebook or Twitter or call FOX 2 at (248) 552-5103 or email FOX2newsdesk@foxtv.com