Son’s Accident Changed Life for Villas Couple

VILLAS — Retirement was not supposed to be what it has become for Harry and Kathleen Storz. The retired union boilermaker, 66, from Philadelphia and retired bank teller spouse, 65, never envisioned — at their ages — becoming caregivers, 24 hours a day, seven days a week for their 42-year-old quadriplegic son, Harry T. Storz III.
Harry was a union boilermaker, just like his dad. He worked in heavy construction for 24 years. Yet, he was artistic, and has many pen and ink drawings, although he never took a class in art. He enjoyed drawing Disney characters and Marmaduke, the cartoon canine.
He most loved working with his hands on motors, cars and motorcycles. His pleasure came helping family and friends with such things, enjoying his after work time with hours tinkering with things mechanical.
“That’s what hurts the most now,” said Kathleen, “He can’t even move his hands.”
Harry, an avowed Eagles and Flyers fan, must now follow his teams on a television near his bed, but he cannot clap when they make a goal, his hands are immobile.
When the time came for discharge, would it be into a nursing home or elsewhere? There was never a doubt or decision to be made, according to Kathleen. Their choice was simply something parents do for their children, regardless of age.
Their choice was to place Harry, father of three sons, ages 19, 8, and 3, who live in Philadelphia, into their own, long-term, loving care.
Life changed abruptly and drastically for the Storz family on June 20 at the intersection of Aramingo and Oxford avenues in Philadelphia. They received the stunning call at 11 p.m. that Harry was in a “bike accident.”
An eyewitness told Kathleen that Harry, who had ridden a motorcycle for over 20 years, was riding his beloved 1995 Harley-Davidson Dyna-Glide motorcycle. He had the green light. A young driver on Oxford Avenue careened crossing four lanes of traffic and struck Storz.
When emergency responders arrived, Storz was unresponsive. Taken to Hahnemann University Hospital, he was in a coma for two weeks.
Doctors told his parents that most crash victims in Harry’s condition would likely have been killed.
He had sustained a broken neck, fractured jaw, punctured lung, fractured ribs, both arms and wrists fractured.
Listed as a complete spinal cord injury, Harry was in Hahnemann’s intensive care unit for eight weeks.
During his time in the hospital, he suffered two full cardiac arrests. Because of that, he had a pacemaker implanted.
Release from Hahnemann meant the start of seven weeks at Moss Rehab. Through it all, Harry and Kathleen were by their son’s side every minute the facilities would allow.
Informed of their decision to take Harry into their Texas Avenue home, the nursing staff tried to prepare the couple for the immense workload they were about to undertake, something even skilled nurses would find overwhelming.
Before Harry could be brought to live with them, over $10,000 in home renovations were necessary to convert their one-time family room into a cheerful room, with handicap-accessible bathroom, doors wide enough to allow easy wheelchair passage, and a wooden handicap ramp.
The renovation gobbled a huge chunk of the Storz’s nest egg, but they do not regret it. A full corner of the room is shelved with supplies, floor to ceiling. What used to be Kathleen’s spare room is largely filled with medical supplies.
Sleep is elusive for the Storz couple who spend their nights on a sofa bed in the adjacent living room, just steps away from Harry’s mechanized hospital bed.
They have seen their electric bills skyrocket since Oct. 10 when Harry came to their home. Kathleen points to devices that keep Harry’s trach-tube moistened and another machine that helps keep his lungs clear. The noise from one machine, which must run five to six hours each night, is slightly lower than a jackhammer. Because of that noise, the Storzes fear they might not hear their son calling them through the night.
Because of his spinal cord injury, the room must be at least 75 degrees. Even then, Harry’s is often cold. They turn up the heat in their all-electric home, and the meter spins madly. Adding to the expense is an electric bed that constantly inflates to prevent bedsores, of which he has one that they are trying their best to help heal.
Since the accident, and taking care of their son, Harry dropped 60 pounds, still, he does not complain. He jokes with his son, makes small talk, and encourages him.
“It’s rough. It’s really rough,” said Kathleen, as she looked across the room where her son lay, propped in his bed, and her husband trying to raise his spirits by being positive, telling him he’d come a long way since the accident.
Harry and Kathleen maintain a never-ending vigil over their son. One shops while the other stays close. One sleeps while the other is awake with Harry. There is never a moment of ease, day or night for the couple.
Nurses come to check on wound healing, to flush IV tubes and to check the catheter, but there is no respite for the couple.
If they had a wheelchair-accessible van, even a second hand one, the three could make doctor appointments, and possibly even go for a walk on the boardwalk, since Harry has a wheelchair.
“We priced vans, new some are $40,000-$50,000, even used ones are $25, 000,” said Kathleen.
Harry’s twin sister got a mountain scene mural that hangs on the wall near his bed, it reads, “Harry T. Storz III A Miracle in Progress.”
All day, every day, that is what the Storz hope for, a miracle. Until it happens, a loving father and mother will tend to their son because that is what true love is all about.
A family friend and Shop Rite employee, Melissa Hoskins, hopes to organize a benefit after the holidays, perhaps getting assistance from fellow Harley-Davidson riders, to help the Storz family purchase a wheelchair adaptable van so that life will not have to be so confining.
Should anyone wish to assist the Storz family, perhaps as a short-term caregiver for a few hours, or lend a hand in other ways, they may be contacted at (609) 886-2462.