CORRECTION: A previous version of this story included a photograph of a man who is not Charles Pennix. The story has been updated to reflect this change. The Daily Tar Heel apologizes for this error.
It takes Charles Pennix three different bus rides in order to get to the hospital to receive his treatment, a difficult task for someone with Arthrogryposis. This condition causes Pennix’s joints to become partially or completely fixed in a set position.
In order to better take care of himself and his two daughters, Pennix is attempting to raise $50,000 for a handicap-accessible van.
“A normal day depends on how much pain I’m in,” Charles Pennix said. “Normally if I am in a whole lot of pain, I don’t get up out of bed. Sometimes the pain makes me go into the hospital where they have to give me pain medicine through an IV.”
Helen Pennix, Charles’ adopted mother and pastor, was a foster parent at the time that he was born. After Charles was born, Helen became his foster mom and quickly fell in love with him. She couldn't not adopt him.
“He had about seven or eight [surgeries] before he left the hospital,” Helen Pennix said. “Because we couldn’t take him home, we would go back and forth to the hospital getting to know him. In the process, we fell in love with him. He caught onto my finger, and when he caught onto my finger with the three fingers he had on his hand, it just touched my heart. And from then on I could never let him go.”
In middle school, Charles used a walker and later transitioned to crutches. However, his condition later deteriorated, so he uses a powered wheelchair now.
Charles said his school didn't have elevators, which made it difficult for him to attend his classes.
Helen said, for years, she strived to get elevators installed in his elementary school. It was only after he transitioned to middle school that elevators were finally at his disposal.
