He said he wished the motorized bike would have been donated to someone else, someone in more need.
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Rocky Sexton, who helped organize the event, said $512 was donated by the Middletown community. He said the used Huffy bike cost $300 and the rest of the donated money was used to purchase gift cards for Wells.
“This is like paying forward,” Sexton said of the gifts. “We see too much bad already. So to see something good may change the course of history here. It’s amazing seeing the smiles.”
Several members of the community gathered at the UDF for what they called “the big reveal.” The event was broadcast live on Middletown Talk’s Facebook page.
On Tuesday, Wells was told to return to the UDF, where he stands every morning, because a friend wanted to interview him.
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Instead, he was surprised by the gift.
“Thank you and God bless America and the world, too,” an emotional Wells said.
Later, while standing near the bike, he added: “It’s not so much what I’m getting here, it’s what I’m getting in here,” he said, pointing toward his heart. “People have to have a heart in this world, man. I want to show love just like Jesus Christ did. “
In that trailer fire, Wells suffered second- and third-degree burns over 45 percent of his body and endured numerous skin grafts. He was in ICU at Miami Valley Hospital in Dayton for six weeks, then in a step-down unit for several months. He eventually lived at Garden Manor Retirement Village until he moved into a Middletown apartment.
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