County workers return wheelchair to hit-and-run victim

Two county employees were honored by the Boone County Commission Thursday for helping to return a wheelchair to the victim of a hit-and-run.

One night, about six weeks ago in June, Jeff Guyer was searching on Highway HH near Hallsville for his lost dog. He found his dog a short distance down the road, but that wasn’t the end of his ordeal.

On his way back to the house, Guyer saw headlights coming straight toward him. He said the next thing he remembers is waking up two days later in Harry Truman Memorial Veterans’ Hospital after being hit by the vehicle.

Several weeks later, Public Works employee Gordon McCune said he found a beaten-up wheelchair in the bushes alongside the road. He took it home and was on a mission to find out who the chair belonged to. While he was searching, he used his own money to fix the wheelchair.

“Two or three weeks later, I ran into Jeff and got to shooting the breeze with him and figured out it had to be his chair,” McCune said.

During that conversation, McCune and fellow worker Adam Reddick learned about the man’s story. They knew immediately they could help him out by returning his chair.

“It makes you feel like a better person, makes you feel like you have some sort of self-worth, like you mean something to somebody,” Reddick said.

Guyer was so thankful, he not only thanked McCune in person, but he also called the county to let leaders know. County officials say they did not know what the workers did until Guyer contacted them.

McCune and Reddick say it was just the right thing to do and they just happened to be at the right place at the right time.

“I felt like it was just what should be done,” McCune said. “I mean, it was fortunate I located him; I felt lucky I was able to locate him.”

Boone County commissioners gave McCune and Reddick a proclamation of their efforts.

Although Guyer was not at the ceremony, he told county officials he wanted the men to get the recognition they deserve.

The driver of the vehicle involved in the hit-and-run vehicle has not been found.