ST. LANDRY PARISH (OPELOUSAS) — A man from Opelousas has been reacquainted with his lost wheelchair and belongings—and regifted a separate, mint-condition chair—after losing his own during a drive home from Lafayette. Thaddeus Sam was driving on Saturday when the tailgate of his truck dropped, causing his wheelchair and backpack—containing his ID and important cards—to fall out.
“Tim McGraw said men ain't supposed to cry—" said Thaddeus' father, Elton, "but Tim, I believe I have to shed a tear at this moment."
“I'm so blessed to have it and bring it back to him," said John Granger, the man who recovered Thaddeus' things. "It's unbelievable!”
The search for the missing belongings came to a heartwarming conclusion when Granger, a scrap metal worker, found Thaddeus' wheelchair on the side of I-49 northbound. “Going to Sunset, I found the wheelchair, brought it home, and saw it on Facebook, and next thing you know, someone was missing it, and now I'm returning it."
But Granger didn’t stop there. He also located Thaddeus' bag—containing his ID, cash, and cards—at the same spot where he found the wheelchair.
“And I was like, ‘Well, hold on, where ya coming from?’” said Elton, recounting a prior exchange with Granger. “He said, ‘I’m coming from Broussard.’ I said, ‘From Broussard? Well, if you tell me where it’s at...’ He said, ‘No... if I picked up the chair, I know about where the bag is, so I'll go and see.’”
After a trip back, Granger found the bag intact. “Everything’s inside,” he said, beaming—also commenting on the "negative feedback" he received on social media. "It's like people thought I was gonna steal it or dump the wheelchair...but the important thing is that it's back with the man who needs it."
Granger wasn’t the only one looking out for Sam.
Chanel Knotts heard about Thaddeus' story and wanted to get in touch. “A long time ago, I was in a car wreck. Since then, I’ve had issues—this time, they found a mass on my spine, and they went in and took it out, and I woke up not able to feel my legs."
After a near-full recovery, Knotts decided to donate her purple wheelchair to Thaddeus.
Knotts hopes her gesture will raise awareness about the challenges faced by individuals with disabilities. “They’re not different—they’re not,” she said. “If anything, their life is a little harder. It’s life-changing.”
Granger and Knotts plan on meeting Thaddeus soon.
