83-year-old man gets new electric scooter after losing wheelchair to flooding in Pajaro

PAJARO, Calif. (KION-TV) Update April 12, 2023, at 7:03 p.m.- As soon as the story aired on KION News Channel 46 and our sister station Telemundo 23, several agencies and volunteers contacted the station. Among these agencies were CalOES, FEMA, the American Red Cross, and a number of concerned citizens who reached out to help Mr. Zamora.

Finally, Wednesday, the Red Cross personally visited Mr. Zamora at his trailer home on Salinas Road. The Red Cross personnel evaluated Mr. Zamora's health status, reviewed his clinical record, and, according to his evaluation:

• In order for Mr. Zamora to qualify for an electric wheelchair, a doctor has to prescribe it to him. Since Mr. Zamora can take a few steps and still has some mobility in his legs (although he is in pain), he has only been given a manual wheelchair.
• They determined Mr. Zamora is closer to 83 than 81.
• The Red Cross encourages Mr. Zamora to use the manual chair to avoid losing complete mobility in his legs.

Yet, a donor made it possible for Mr. Zamora to get a new electric wheelchair. Vietnam Veteran, John Fraser, personally visited Mr. Zamora to deliver the scooter.  

Not only did the Red Cross evaluate Mr. Zamora's health, but they also provided a cleaning crew that removed all dangerous objects in his home. He was given medicine, and the Red Cross and FEMA have committed to reach out and help Mr. Zamora with ongoing needs if necessary.

Wednesday afternoon, as he was riding his scooter around the trailer park, Telemundo 23 Costa Central and KION News Channel 46 visited Mr. Zamora and thanked our reporters for exposing his needs to the community.

"Well, I am so happy right now, I can't thank you enough for what you have done, thank you," Zamora said in Spanish to our very own Sandy Santos.

81-year-old man loses electric wheelchair after flooding in Pajaro

When the residents of Pajaro returned to their homes after the river flooded the community, they were met with a pitiful scene. Many of their belongings are covered in mud and useless.

This was the case with Francisco Zamora, 81.

Francisco says that he had depended on his electric chair for eight years to get around the neighborhood of the mobile home. When he returned to his house, he recounts that the water entered the storage room, and he could not turn it on again.

"My feet hurt a lot, they had given me that chair, and I had it in that little room; it got wet and no longer turned on," said Francisco Zamora.

Francisco says that his legs hurt a lot and that a friend gave him the chair to be able to get around easily because it is hard for him to walk a lot and even go to the nearest store.

How did the chair help you? "Well, with the chair, I would go out here, and there I would turn around, to walk, well, a little."

Telemundo interview, Francisco Zarmora

You can still see parts of the electric chair that were essential for Mr. Francisco's mobility in the common garbage can. Now, he's tied to his house,

“Well, I feel a little bad, although I do get out a little bit, even if I hobble, that's where I get out, but my feet hurt… and I was very happy in the chair,” said Francisco.

Francisco lives alone, although his daughters occasionally visit and help him. He spends most of the day just watching the cars go by. For hours he sleeps sitting in an old truck or attached to a plastic chair.

What did he think at that moment? "Well, I felt really bad, but, well, what was I doing, I had to throw it away… we also had a praise pot here, and the water also came, and it didn't turn on, and we threw it there too… We threw away a lot of things that we had."

Telemundo Interview, Francisco Zamora

Francisco has tried to apply for local assistance and is hoping to receive financial help to buy a new chair. We contacted FEMA representatives, and they assured us that residents who requested assistance would be able to claim items lost due to flooding.