After stroke, 'Crazy Ray Jones' returns home
After stroke, 'Crazy Ray Jones' returns home,
09:27 PM CST on Wednesday, November 15, 2006,
By CHRIS HEINBAUGH / WFAA-TV ---
For the past few months, fans of Crazy Ray Jones, the Dallas Cowboys icon, have stepped up to help him and his wife Mattie in a time of great need.
The years took a toll on Wilford Ray Jones. He lost a leg, most of his eyesight and suffered several strokes.
However, people have come forward for the Joneses. They replaced the couple’s stolen car and completely renovated their home.
While Jones stayed in a nursing facility after suffering his latest stroke last August, he returned home Wednesday night.
Since the stroke left his right side paralyzed, his wife now plays therapist and helps work his arm.
Jones now breathes heavily, fighting congestion and also struggles to communicate. In the nursing facility, Mrs. Jones pressed Ray to fight to regain his speech.
“I got in his ear and I said, 'Ray, you have to talk to me and you will talk again,'” she said.
During all his hard times, the one thing Crazy Ray never lost was his passion for his team. For decades, he served as the well loved mascot of the Dallas Cowboys.
“Can you say, 'Go Cowboys?'” Mrs. Jones asked him.
“Go Cowboys,” Jones responded with an enthusiastic struggle.
“Hold up your finger like you used to,” Mrs. Jones urged him.
“Go Cowboys, all right!” responded Jones lifting his index finger to indicate number one. “Going to the Super Bowl!”
Wednesday, friends moved the Jones' belongings back into their home of 30 years, and it is their first week back.
The entire house was refinished from the framing out. The kitchen was fit with new granite counters, white custom cupboards and shiny appliances.
“They weren't making anything like this in ’76,” Mrs. Jones said showing off their new stainless steel refrigerator.
They received more bedrooms and a master bathroom twice its original size, which included a specially equipped shower for a still recovering Jones.
All the new building materials and labor were donated by fans.
“All the years Ray has put in helping kids across the city, he deserves everything he's getting right now,” said Victor Tannous, a contractor with Crescent Estates who volunteered his time, resources and personally bought the couple a new washer and dryer.
He said he remembers the first time he experienced Jones' kindness as a child.
“I was on crutches, and Crazy Ray was sitting next to me, put his arm around me and we just sat and watched the game for a while,” he said. “That's my fondest memory of Ray.“
For years, Crazy Ray raised the cheers of Cowboy fans. But as those cheers faded and his health declined, his favorite fan, his wife, never left his side.
They will have been together for 53 years in January. Back then, he was on his way with a friend to live in Detroit, but then Jones' sister introduced him to Mattie.
“I went over there one day and had a little bitty waist, and I could walk fast, and he got sidetracked,” she said. “And guess what, he never did make it to Detroit and hasn't made it yet.”
And now, they’re back in their home that was rebuilt and overflowing with love.
“I love you,” Mrs. Jones said while bending over his bed.
“I love you,” he said back while lifting his head to look at her.
09:27 PM CST on Wednesday, November 15, 2006,
By CHRIS HEINBAUGH / WFAA-TV ---
For the past few months, fans of Crazy Ray Jones, the Dallas Cowboys icon, have stepped up to help him and his wife Mattie in a time of great need.
The years took a toll on Wilford Ray Jones. He lost a leg, most of his eyesight and suffered several strokes.
However, people have come forward for the Joneses. They replaced the couple’s stolen car and completely renovated their home.
While Jones stayed in a nursing facility after suffering his latest stroke last August, he returned home Wednesday night.
Since the stroke left his right side paralyzed, his wife now plays therapist and helps work his arm.
Jones now breathes heavily, fighting congestion and also struggles to communicate. In the nursing facility, Mrs. Jones pressed Ray to fight to regain his speech.
“I got in his ear and I said, 'Ray, you have to talk to me and you will talk again,'” she said.
During all his hard times, the one thing Crazy Ray never lost was his passion for his team. For decades, he served as the well loved mascot of the Dallas Cowboys.
“Can you say, 'Go Cowboys?'” Mrs. Jones asked him.
“Go Cowboys,” Jones responded with an enthusiastic struggle.
“Hold up your finger like you used to,” Mrs. Jones urged him.
“Go Cowboys, all right!” responded Jones lifting his index finger to indicate number one. “Going to the Super Bowl!”
Wednesday, friends moved the Jones' belongings back into their home of 30 years, and it is their first week back.
The entire house was refinished from the framing out. The kitchen was fit with new granite counters, white custom cupboards and shiny appliances.
“They weren't making anything like this in ’76,” Mrs. Jones said showing off their new stainless steel refrigerator.
They received more bedrooms and a master bathroom twice its original size, which included a specially equipped shower for a still recovering Jones.
All the new building materials and labor were donated by fans.
“All the years Ray has put in helping kids across the city, he deserves everything he's getting right now,” said Victor Tannous, a contractor with Crescent Estates who volunteered his time, resources and personally bought the couple a new washer and dryer.
He said he remembers the first time he experienced Jones' kindness as a child.
“I was on crutches, and Crazy Ray was sitting next to me, put his arm around me and we just sat and watched the game for a while,” he said. “That's my fondest memory of Ray.“
For years, Crazy Ray raised the cheers of Cowboy fans. But as those cheers faded and his health declined, his favorite fan, his wife, never left his side.
They will have been together for 53 years in January. Back then, he was on his way with a friend to live in Detroit, but then Jones' sister introduced him to Mattie.
“I went over there one day and had a little bitty waist, and I could walk fast, and he got sidetracked,” she said. “And guess what, he never did make it to Detroit and hasn't made it yet.”
And now, they’re back in their home that was rebuilt and overflowing with love.
“I love you,” Mrs. Jones said while bending over his bed.
“I love you,” he said back while lifting his head to look at her.
posted by The Gryphon at 6:41 PM
<< Home