PUEBLO, Colo.—During the busiest time of the year, one Pueblo man received a little peace of mind amid the chaos of the Christmas season.
Tommy Fergerson’s life changed drastically this past spring following a skydiving accident that cost him an arm.
Fergerson, 49, the owner of Techno-Doctor, was seriously injured in the April skydiving mishap. His left arm was surgically removed in August after months of pain and having no use of the limb.
During the Christmas holiday, a regular customer went into Fergerson’s store to have a broken computer repaired.
While dropping off her computer, Kisi Thompson asked Fergerson about his injury.
After hearing his story, Thompson said little and left the store.
Three weeks later, she returned with a black trash bag. Surprised to see his acquaintance of 10 years back in the store so soon, Fergerson thought Thompson was bringing more equipment to be repaired.
“I just thought there were some old computer parts in the bag that Kisi was dropping off,” he recalled Thursday.
Instead, Thompson had a surprising gift.
To Fergerson’s amazement, the trash bag contained something much more valuable than old computer parts. A coat that had been customized to fit his needs.
As she pulled out the coat, Thompson explained each detail to Fergerson. Her kindness was reflected in each and every thought she had put into making the coat.
“One of my biggest problems since the accident was getting my sleeve shut in the car door. It was always getting stuck,” Fergerson said.
So he was elated to learn that the left coat sleeve had been sewn into the coat to avoid this problem.
Thompson, 47, is employed at Adams Electric as an estimator and project manager.
“Helping people is part of my everyday life,” she said.
Inspired by her father’s loss of a limb, Thompson was moved to take action and improve Fergerson’s daily life.
“I went to hardware and craft stores to try to find the right things to make the coat work for Tommy,” she said.
With some ingenuity, she sewed a picture frame hook to the coat near the right pocket to help Fergerson put on a glove with ease.
“When I went home after seeing what happened to Tommy, I started experimenting. I tried to do everything (including scraping windows) with one hand and realized just how tough it was,” Thompson said of her project.
Now, as the holiday season slows, Fergerson has a winter coat to keep him warm, and has come away from this experience with a little inspiration.
“Of all the things I was given this year for Christmas, this was the most valuable and meaningful, because instead of saying how sorry she was, Kisi Thompson actually went out and did something to make a change,” Fergerson said.
“It made me realize that there are good people out there and that God puts everyone in your life for a reason.”
