Last June, Demar, 52, of St. Albans, Vt., was struck in the Consumer Square parking lot by a Clinton County Public Transit bus. The vehicle's back bumper caught his wheelchair and dragged him nearly 30 feet before he fell out of it.
Demar was treated for injuries at CVPH Medical Center and released that day. Without money to fix his broken wheelchair, he filed a claim and waited for some help.
The case was picked up by the law office of Mark Schneider in Plattsburgh.
"It's sad that it took so long for him to get reimbursed for his wheelchair, when it was clearly the fault of the bus that hit him," Schneider said earlier this week. "That's why we helped him for free."
Clinton County Public Transit's operation is contracted out to First Transit Inc.; Teri Blake, First Transit general manager, did not wish to comment on the case or whether the driver involved, Lindsay W. Mesec, is still employed there.
Lonnie Ames, assistant manager of First Transit, did say in July, however, that Mesec was retrained in parking-lot safety.
FRUSTRATING CLAIM
Demar's case was handled primarily by Drew Palcsik of Schneider's firm. He said the operative word for the whole incident was "frustrating."
Maggie Barie, Clinton County planning technician and head of the Clinton County Public Transit program, said she could not comment on the case because it had been sent to Public Transit's insurance company, and so the county is no longer involved.
Demar is almost exclusively confined to his wheelchair, Palcsik said, and is able to walk only about 20 to 30 feet without it.
"We had very little luck getting the insurance company to deal with (it)."
Palcsik said insurance companies have an obligation to adjust a claim in a timely fashion, but in this instance, the third-party Texas-based outfit that handled the case took its time.
"He's (Demar) a super nice guy," Palcsik said. "He was frustrated, of course, but he kept good spirits."
'BIG RELIEF'
Demar said winning the compensation was a big relief.
"I find it very astounding that a person with a need has to wait eight months to get something that simple."
He said he hasn't been able to get out much since the loss of his chair.
"It's a sad state of affairs when someone is relying on an apparatus to be able to live a fairly normal life," he said, and to have it taken away and not rectified in a short time is upsetting.
Demar's next task will be getting the chair fixed, something he said will likely bring him to the 10-month mark before he will be able to use it again.