Volunteer gets check for surgery

Costa Mesa construction worker Don Peterson always knew he would have to have surgery to fix an injured shoulder. With no health insurance to cover the procedure, he left the how and when up to a higher power.

“God will find a way,” he told the Daily Pilot two weeks ago, when the newspaper first told his story.

Despite a torn right rotator cuff, Peterson traveled to Pascagoula, Miss., earlier this month with a local church group to repair homes damaged by Hurricane Katrina.

The damaged tendon makes moving his right arm painful. He knew he could risk further injuring himself on the trip, but felt people still living in FEMA trailers needed his help, even two years after the storm.

Peterson learned his surgery was paid for last week by donors who gave his church about $6,700 to pay for the procedure and to help him and his family get by while he recovered.

One anonymous donor gave a large sum of money to the church after Peterson returned from Pascagoula. The money was designated specifically for Peterson’s surgery, said Harbor Trinity Baptist Church Pastor Rod Randall.

“I was very praiseful. It was a tearful moment as well as a cheerful moment,” Peterson said after he got a phone call about the donations from one of the Harbor Trinity pastors. “When I told everybody I knew God would take care of everything, I knew that I truly believed God would take care of it, and he did.”

In Pascagoula, Peterson led a team of volunteers to hang drywall and repair the plumbing and electrical wiring in the home of a grandmother who worked as a nurse at an adult care center.

The woman has lived in a FEMA trailer and at the houses of family and friends since Katrina left 7 feet of Gulf water in her house and 6 inches of sludge on the floors.

Peterson, who is skilled at hanging drywall, taught dozens of volunteers how to repair storm-damaged walls in Pascagoula.

“He is one of the most positive people I know,” said Randall, who worked alongside Peterson this year in Pascagoula. “Here’s a guy without insurance who needs about $7,000 for surgery, and who knows how much beyond that.

“This has helped strengthen my faith and taught me not to doubt what God can do,” he said.

Randall said he already has one or two more people who have asked him about making a donation to Peterson’s recovery fund.

“I was very impressed with that Don believed God would protect him ... he prayed and I believe that the Lord answered that prayer,” Randall said.

Peterson has already found an orthopedic surgeon to repair his shoulder next week.

His arm will be in a sling for about eight weeks after the procedure. He then must undergo about four months of physical therapy. He won’t be able to do any work that requires lifting his arms over his head for about 10 months, but he still hopes to return to Mississippi next year to repair homes.

“A part of my heart is definitely in Mississippi,” Peterson said. “There are so many more people without their homes and so many lives that can be changed.”

BRIANNA BAILEY may be reached at (714) 966-4625 or at [email protected].