Man’s Insurance Won’t Pay For Prosthetic Legs, He Turns To Selling Doughnuts To Raise Funds

What do you do if you need new legs and your insurance company won’t cover the cost? One man’s solution to such a quandary has led him to try and raise a whopping $120,000 for prosthetic legs by selling Krispe Kreme doughnuts in front of local stores in his South Carolina neighborhood. That’s a lot of doughnuts.

The 20-year-old man was born in a Romanian orphanage with a birth defect that cost him his legs, reports WBTV (via CBS Charlotte), and he’s outgrown the legs he had been using before. His insurance company says they won’t cover the cost because there has been no change in his medical condition. Apparently growing doesn’t count as a change.

Despite his handicap, he seems determined to raise the funds he needs to be able to walk comfortably again.

“I’ve got to sell thousands upon thousands of doughnuts, but sitting on the couch is not gonna get you a set of legs,” he said. He’s 25 pounds over the weight limit allowed for his current legs, a shortcoming that causes him to fall often.

“We are very grateful that he hasn’t been seriously injured yet from these falls,” his mother writes on his fundraising site, JoeysLegs.org. “His doctor has informed us that it is very dangerous to continue using legs designed for someone much smaller, because the knees tend to let go. When this happens, he falls backward and cannot catch himself.”

So far he’s raised $2,000 by selling doughnuts and through his website.

Young man selling doughnuts to help buy new prosthetic legs [WBTV.com]
South Carolina Man Selling Doughnuts To Raise $120G For New Prosthetic Legs [CBS Charlotte]

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