Logan man keeps up with work, avoids injury thanks to loaned scooter

Dean Luthi at work, on his new-to-him scooter.

LOGAN--Dean Luthi had some difficulty standing and walking at work at Lowe's in Logan, where he ran the self-checkout. He talked to his manager and they gave him a parking space close to the store and tried putting a seat in his work station. They put his employee card on a lanyard so that he could easily scan it at the register when he needed to help a customer.

Still, the up-and-down action was difficult. Once, Dean fell and had to miss work. "I was out for seven days and I messed up my shoulder," he said.

Most days, injury or not, he was worn out by the time he went home. He was also having a hard time using the break room--it was just too far away.

His manager, Joey Wolford, knew the problem was real. "Dean's a ray of sunshine. He probably has the best attitude of anybody I've ever met," he said. "If he could work here all the time, he would."

Mike Stokes, who volunteers at the Utah Assistive Technology Program in Logan, saw Dean as he was there at Lowe's, picking up some materials the store had donated for a different UATP project. He also saw Wolford in the store.

"Mike is my old assistant soccer coach," Wolford said.

Stokes and Wolford arranged an introduction with Luthi, and the work began to find a scooter he could use on loan from UATP. They found one, and Luthi began working more safely.

"When I got the scooter I didn't have to worry bout falling," he said.

He also received a walker on loan from UATP to help him walk the halls of Bridgerland Technical College, where he is studying to be an auto and diesel technician.

"My goal is to open my own shop," he said.

Information about equipment available for loan from UATP is available in an earlier post.