August 23,2005
CYNDI BROWN View stories by reporter
DAILY NEWS STAFF

Angels watch over Dave Lambert.

Lambert, a former Marine diagnosed with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis or ALS, started carving the wooden figures three years ago, first as a merit badge project for the Boy Scout troop he leads then as a hobby to keep from losing more movement in his hands. A few of the winged forms sit on his entertainment center, overlooking Lambert in his favorite chair - or maybe what used to be his favorite chair until real-life "angels" visited his home.

Lambert recently received a motorized wheelchair from the Capt. John C. Carr Disabled Veterans Resource Center.

"They are angels," said Dave's wife, Donna Lambert. "I'm telling you, they really saved his life."

Before the chair's delivery, Dave spent his days inside - he didn't have much of a choice.

The chair he originally got from the VA was manual, but shoulder surgery made it hard for Lambert to control the wheels himself. That chair was wide - wider than the door frames in his traditional ranch-style Jacksonville home and too bulky to turn around in the main hallway. And his house sits on a knoll - once he rolled out the front door or the back, it was an uphill push to get back inside.

"No matter which way I go, it's downhill. It gets real tiresome (going back up)," said Lambert.

It was easier to stay inside.

"Basically he just stayed in the house because he had to wait for someone to push him," explained Donna . "He was a virtual shut-in. He had just given up."

And then a family friend, John-Michael Moore of the Carr Center, contacted them with news of a donated chair. Could the Lambert's use it?

"The day they called us for this, I didn't believe it," remembered Donna. "The Resource Center has been wonderful to us."

When the members delivered the chair, they also installed a small ramp to help Dave more easily get outside. It didn't take long for him to use it.

"When they brought the chair out to me, they lost me," said Dave, recounting his adventure outside where he met with neighbors he hadn't talked to before and reconnected with those he had. He's even started taking Blossom, his German Shepherd that stays protectively nearby when strangers arrive, for walks again.

"I'm finally getting back into the community and everything," said Dave, who served "just shy of 12 years" in the Marine Corps.

Dave, 44, was honorably discharged May 6, 1993. A year and a half later, he started getting sick. While he had injured his knee during PT and started getting skin rashes before he left service, Dave and Donna didn't think much of it. Or put the two together.

Then his legs started giving out.

The original diagnosis was a corrosive disease that kept eating the cartilage in his joints. Then it was suspected to be rheumatoid arthritis. Now it's ALS, which VA doctors are attributing to his time serving in the Persian Gulf during the first Gulf War.

"It seems like every time you go to the VA you get a different doctor and a different diagnosis," said Dave. "I love my country. I wouldn't be in the shape I'm in if I didn't."

But, he added, he's frustrated by his dealings with its medical system.

"I hate saying it, but in a way it's almost like you go, you fight for your country, you get hurt and turn around and go home," said an exasperated Dave. "Then you've got to turn around and fight your government for the things you were promised.

"They say give 110 percent, and that's what I gave. Then when they put you out, it's like 'see ya,'"

That's when the Carr Center, according to Art Taylor, can try to help.

"We try to match the need with the resources. That's what we do at Carr," said Taylor, one of the center's founders. "What it boils down to is instead of saying 'No, the VA won't do this or the VA can't do this,' you research what you can do. While you're fighting the VA, we can still assist.

"That guy wasn't looking for a handout," added Taylor, emphasizing that the center, which officially opens Sept. 1, is in place only to assist other veteran organizations, including the VA, not replace them.

Dave has given up a lot since illness started taking its toll.

"I used to love fishing. If it wasn't fishing, it would be hunting," said Dave.

But he hasn't been hunting in seven years, and his wife, who had to quit working to take care of her husband, is trying to save the money for Dave to get back out on the water in a chartered boat equipped for the wheelchair-bound. He can no longer look closely at the night sky; the scope on his refractive telescope is on the top, and he can't reach that angle from the chair. And the couple, high school sweethearts who have been married for 24 years, don't go out much anymore - Dave gets edgy around too many people and loud noises disturb him - and had to skip Fourth of July fireworks because they couldn't maneuver his manual chair over the gravel and grass.

But thanks to the chair - donated by Tabitha Marshburn - he's back outside. And back outside on his own.

"I enjoy the chair. I use it here in the house. I use it outside," said Dave. "I even started to work on my wooden angels again."

Those interested in helping the center can send donations or correspondence to the Capt. John C. Carr Disabled Veterans Resource Center, 406 South Marine Blvd, Suite B, Jacksonville, NC 28540. Or email johncarrcenter1@yahoo.com.