Big check to help Iraq war veteran and his wife
David Tauchen
Colorado Springs
Good news to report, Sunday, for a family News First has been covering for the past few months. Cesar and Beatriz Mendoza were presented with $5,000 dollars to help them buy a handicapped accessible van.
Cesar and Beatriz Mendoza have been through some tough times. Cesar was injured in Iraq. Just a few months after he returned from war his wife was in a traffic accident that paralyzed her.
Most of the donated money came from a non-profit. The rest was donated by Matthew Keil, also a soldier injured in Iraq. Last year he was shot in the neck by a sniper. The wound left him paralyzed. After hearing the Mendoza's story, he says he felt compelled to help.
"It hit a heart note with us and we just really wanted to be able to help them," said Keil.
"We never thought there were those people out there that were willing to give that much money to people they don't really know," said Cesar Mendoza.
Both Keil and Beatriz Mendoza were treated at Craig Hospital in Denver at the same time.