BONIFAY — Sheila Boswell won’t soon forget the panic she felt the afternoon in October when the brakes went out as she drove her young daughter and a friend home.
“Thank God I was only going 10 miles an hour,” she said.
Boswell was thankful the rust-ravaged 1995 Chevy Lumina came to a gentle stop. But that relief turned back into anxiety when she was told it would cost $900 — more than the car was worth — to make the necessary repairs to have safe transportation again.
The 51-year-old single mother who gets by on $800 a month in disability didn’t have that kind of cash, so she followed a friend’s advice and put her need on the popular crowdfunding site, GoFundMe.
Donations from well-wishers trickled in online, and Boswell was stunned when she received a $5,000 check from the Bense Family Foundation on Oct. 25.
Boswell still gets emotional talking about all the support she’s received in recent months.
“That money is almost like it’s a million dollars, you know?” Boswell said. “It’s something I would never be able to get on my own.”
Boswell said she’s also been grateful to use the media attention to educate others about the rare genetic disorder she lives with.
Neurofibromatosis disturbs cell growth in the nervous system, causing benign tumors to form on nerve tissue in the body. Due to her condition, Boswell is permanently covered head-to-toe in pea- and marble-sized fleshy bumps called neurofibromas.
Boswell’s appearance and much of her circumstances have been dictated by the disorder, but she said it could never steal her sense of joy and gratitude.
Earlier this month, another blessing literally rolled into Boswell’s life.
It was a 1995 Buick Roadmaster Estate Wagon donated by Jerry Haviland, a 98-year-old WWII veteran who’s well-known in his little corner of
“I like the car,” said 8-year-old Nevaeh Boswell.
Boswell said life has been pretty good since she slid behind the wheel of the oversized automobile. She and Nevaeh are already planning to load up friends and family soon for trips to the movies and the beach in the mint condition wagon that comfortably seats seven people.
“It rides like a limousine,” Boswell said. “It’s one of the best riding cars we’ve ever been in.”
Boswell said she used some of the money donated to her on GoFundMe to pay the car’s insurance for a year.
Looking back, she feels like Christmas came early this year.
“I know I’m crying happy tears because this is a blessing,” Boswell said. “It’s all been a big, big blessing.”