In our story on Augie Nieto, we mentioned how Augie, on his vacation in Mexico, was left hanging in the air while still in his wheelchair as he was being transported from his boat onto the dock. We have the photos here to prove it, too.
And, there's more to the story, courtesy of Augie himself. Several calls were made to the company that operated the lift, but the lift still would not move. That's when Augie says his wife, Lynne, came to the rescue.
"She rigs up a harness and uses the dingy davit to first lift me to the shower chair on the dock," Augie says, "Then, we call over friends to help lift the 400-pound wheelchair to the dock."
It sounds like a happy ending to the story—but wait, there's more! All of this hard work delayed the Nietos in getting to the airport. When they arrived there, Augie had to forfeit his wheelchair at the ticket counter and was moved to a manual wheelchair, which is a change in airport policy, Augie says. Going through security delayed the Nietos even further, and they eventually missed their flight. So, Lynne and a caregiver had to load up the seven crates they were transporting and checked themselves and Augie into a hotel for the night.
"I share this with you not to feel sorry for me," Augie says, "but to complement the love of my life—Lynne!"
See, this story does have a happy ending after all.
