HOUSTON
Michael Williams, 27, gets enough in state aid each month to cover his rent, but it doesn't even come close to covering his medical bills, not to mention one of the most basic things he needs as a paraplegic.
Inside his mobile home in southeast Montgomery County, Williams who now feels like a little boy.
"Worse, sometimes two-year-olds get potty trained," Williams said.
At his home is where you'll find Williams most of the day, not by choice.
"I'm not that person. I mean, I'd much rather work," he said.
He does out of fear.
"I'm worried about wetting myself," he said.
We first met Williams in October next to the truck he was traveling in just before a crash that left him paralyzed. It's been a hard eight months. He's waiting for Medicare to kick in in two years, so right now he can't even afford to buy new catheters.
"Just catheters," he said.
So he's been reusing the same ones for three months, which he believes has caused four urinary tract infections since.
He's getting desperate.
"If I committed a crime and I went to prison, they would take care of me," Williams said.
With no medical benefits and very little money, all kinds of things have crossed Williams mind. He hasn't gone as far as deciding which crime he would commit, but he's serious.
"Just anything, just something to get in jail so I get taken care of," he said.
"That's extreme," we said.
"What else do I got?"
What's keeping him clean is his wife and kids. It's been a year and a half since he lost the ability to walk. He has also lost his pride, forced to ask for help, but he doesn't want to lose his dignity.
"I'm a grown man," Williams said. "I just want to live a normal life. It's bad enough I can't walk."
Williams says he has applied for assistance with a number of agencies but has been denied. He won't be covered by Medicare until November 2012.
Copyright © 2024 KTRK-TV. All Rights Reserved.
