‘We didn’t … realize how much we needed it.’ Secret Santa’s gift changes lives of young man and his family
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POCATELLO — Months after a Secret Santa surprised a Pocatello man, his stepmother said the gift has been a game-changer.
In early December, the Buffat family was visited by our Secret Santa team and surprised with a $10,000 certificate to Mobile Ramps and Lifts to help them install a chair lift for their oldest son, Brandon Buffat.
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Marci Buffat told EastIdahoNews.com that her stepson has cerebral palsy, but he will one day be confined to a wheelchair.
For now, with assistance, Brandon, 28, can walk, and the garage has a ramp that allows Brandon to enter the home — but he needed help going between the floors.
“We didn’t even realize how much we needed it until we actually got it,” Marci said. “We knew we needed (it). It’s almost hard to believe that we have it.”
Back in the early 2000s, Marci said her family moved into the split-level home. They talked about moving into a single-level house, but the economy turned, and those discussions stopped.
She said their home works for her family, except for the stairs.
Before the installation of the lift, Marci’s husband, Ryan, helped Brandon get up the stairs. She said that once Brandon hit a growth spurt at age 18, Ryan began carrying him up the stairs on his back.
“I was so used to it, but … people would come over and go, ‘Whoa, that’s what you have to do?’” Marci said. “I guess that is kind of shocking to people who come over and see that.”
The Buffats did receive a partially functional chair lift from one of Ryan’s clients, but the home needed modifications to install it.
Marci said her family had two companies come and give them estimates for installing the lift. One estimate was near $20,000 to install a wraparound chair lift, and another was $12,000 to install two separate lifts.
Marci said her husband called the company the day after the Secret Santa team visited, and an installer arrived at the home a few days later.
The parts were ordered, and the lifts weren’t installed until the week of Dec. 22, Marci said.
“Our switch for getting Brandon back was on Christmas Day, so he hadn’t even seen him yet. It was truly, a really cool Christmas present,” Marci said.
Marci said that Brandon loves the new chair and shows his excitement when he gets to use the chair.
“He’s all positive as far as the chair goes,” Marci said.
