UnityWall.com

Don Coyer

In January of 2002 I had major surgery on my spine in the neck area. Something went drastically wrong and I ended up with a paralyzed left arm. I didn't realize what was going on until much later, but it also messed up my nervous system, when I was rushed to the hospital, the doctors were in shock, my blood pressure was in the stroke zone. As a result, I was unable to be gainfully employed for nearly a year, nerves have to grow back at a rate of 1 inch per month, according to my many neurologists.

When informed of all this, my caseworker said,"I can see that you've always paid, and I'm sorry this happened to you, but I can't guarantee that they won't still take your driver license and throw you in jail." Repeated threats of this sort, mostly by mail caused acute distress and they did take away my license. Then I was unable to get to therapy, go to doctors without my wife's help, pick up meds, see my son, etc. I fought for most of 2 years to get my license back, didn't have a caseworker for most of a year, (she was out on emergency medical leave) nobody would return calls, my wife and I were turned away at the CS office in Savannah, which my current caseworker informed me is illegal. I sent letter after letter from my doctors and myself, and got nothing but more threats. I finally got a new caseworker, and she was SURE I'd get my license back. My wife and I went down the next day, and her whole demeanor had changed. It all bottlenecked down to David Lowe, the director, who has surely lived up to his name. When I could have worked at least some, I wasn't allowed to, for having no license. My wife and I ended up in bankruptcy court as a result.

A couple of weeks ago, my case was switched from Chatham County to Effingham, where my license was promptly reinstated. The Child Support Agency in Savannah should be in prison, in my opinion. They seem determined to turn good people bad, and it seems obvious that Mr. Lowe is racking up some sort of record and is planning to run for office. He should be stopped now.

This type of blanket "law" makes everyone suffer, even the children. It is a vindictive, spiteful senseless cause of unnecessary hardship. How does it help to punish someone who is disabled and attempting to get back on their feet? There is such a thing as the "spirit" of the law, namely, what it was intended to do, then there are people who brutally enforce the "letter of the law," with no compassion.