After spending nine years living on the streets and under Gold Creek bridge, the first bed Charles Wheaton had to lay his head was in a hospital.<\/p>\n
Wheaton, 59, confessed while on the streets he battled a dangerous drinking habit and waged a war with a mental illness. But all those things didn\u2019t push him down far enough to make him give up on life.<\/p>\n
He was finally making a change for the better. On Sept. 11, he rented a one-bedroom apartment at the St. Vincent de Paul Society shelter and turned away from alcohol. Six days later, a sudden medical emergency landed him in the hospital. For a moment, it seemed he had waited too long to turn his life around.<\/p>\n
\u201cI lost consciousness by the Driftwood,\u201d Wheaton said, resting on a recently donated mattress in his apartment. \u201cI fell down buying groceries downtown and broke a bone on my face.\u201d<\/p>\n
The real damage was the internal bleeding medical professionals found caused by ulcers. He said they were a side effect from a certain lifestyle on the streets. At Bartlett Regional Hospital, Wheaton laid in bed for 12 hours as blood was pumped into his body.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m lucky to be alive,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m just glad Bartlett was there. I lived in Bartlett five days longer than I had lived in my apartment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wheaton said the nurse who cared for him during his extended stay, Amber Long, RN, was a comfort during a time he called the scariest moment of his life, the moment he thought could be his last.<\/p>\n
Wheaton said Long provided him comfort with her constant attention and care.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt was nothing special, but he felt like it was, which is the point. That\u2019s what we try to do,\u201d Long said last Friday, when the recovered Wheaton dropped by to give the third-floor nurses station for a surprise visit. \u201cI hope I do that for every patient. At least, that\u2019s my goal.\u201d<\/p>\n
Regardless of Long\u2019s self-assessment, Wheaton said she and the other nurses deserved a big thank you, which is why he wheeled a 30-inch wide pizza on a red wagon along with stuffed animals when he visited them.<\/p>\n
\u201cI owe Bartlett my life,\u201d he said. \u201cI owe them way more than that, I\u2019m just giving them thanks one slice at a time.\u201d<\/p>\n
The \u201csuperbowl\u201d pizza from Bullwinkle\u2019s Pizza Parlor cost Wheaton more than $100. He paid for it with his Permanent Fund Dividend money. The pizza pie was something he saw on TV and thought was impressive, so it seemed like a fitting thank you for an impressive medical staff.<\/p>\n
A teddy bear wearing a backpack was an extra surprise for Long. It has the medical bracelet Wheaton wore during his stay, a small trinket for his friend to always remember him.<\/p>\n
Wheaton didn\u2019t take a slice of pizza that day, although there was plenty to go around. These days, he\u2019s focused on giving back and using his second chance to help others find theirs, too.<\/p>\n
A few weeks before Wheaton\u2019s emergency, Trevor Kellar, the outreach coordinator for The Glory Hole, approached him on the street and provided him information about St. Vincent\u2019s low-income housing. The Glory Hole provides free emergency housing as part of its shelter mission, but it has a no-alcohol policy. Anyone with 0.10 percent alcohol on his or her breath is turned away.<\/p>\n
The St. Vincent apartments cost a couple hundred bucks a month to live there. Wheaton said he\u2019s able to able to make rent with his PFD money, disability checks that come infrequently and the money he makes occasionally doing manual labor for a friend.<\/p>\n
\u201cI feel guilty that I\u2019m not homeless,\u201d Wheaton confided.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m well-off right now,\u201d he said. \u201cI have nothing to worry about. On the street you don\u2019t know where you\u2019re going to eat, sometimes you only eat one meal a day. I don\u2019t have to worry about that anymore.\u201d<\/p>\n
He looks around his one-bedroom apartment, complete with two chairs for guests and prints of one of his favorite singers, Elvis Presley. He can\u2019t help but think of his friends and family members who are still make pillows out of pavement.<\/p>\n