Good deed creates hoop-la

HOLLY SPRINGS, N.C. - Provider Ed Dressen found himself in the spotlight this week, just for doing his job.

On Jan. 12, right after the buzzer sounded on North Carolina State's close win over No. 1-ranked Duke University, student Will Privette, along with hundreds of other fellow Wolfpack fans, rushed the court—in his wheelchair. Caught in the crush, Privette and his wheelchair were toppled.

“I was actually watching the game at home and saw him sitting out front, and then the announcers were saying, 'Oh no, he's going over,'” said Dressen, owner of Dressen Medical Supply.

Dressen asked his daughter, also an N.C. State student, to find out if Privette's wheelchair had been hurt. The damage wasn't too bad: Although the chair back was “crumpled,” the frame was intact. Luckily, Dressen had a suitable replacement on hand, and on Sunday, he drove to Privette's house and fixed his chair for free.

“We root for the Wolfpack, as well, and those in the pack nation help each other and stay together,” he said.

Dressen's simple act of kindness might have gone unnoticed if not for the video of the incident, which went viral. Privette was inundated with media interviews, and he made sure to thank the man who fixed his wheelchair.

 “I didn't do it for publicity,” said Dressen. “I did it to help the kid out and get him back to doing what he wants to do, like go to college and have fun.”

Dressen's generosity was no surprise to Beth Bowen, executive director of the North Carolina Association of Medical Equipment Services.

“It just underlines the fact that they all do things like this,” she said. “That's just what these folks do. They want to make sure folks are taken care of.”

Dressen, who is in a Round 2 competitive bidding area, worries about what will happen when the program and its lower rates are implemented, but he says 33 years in the HME business have taught him that it's service that matters.

“Beyond competitive bidding, beyond the audits, beyond all that stuff, it's things like this that remind you why you are in the business,” he said.