FORT LIARD - Patricia Duntra is going to find it a lot easier to get around Fort Liard these days thanks to the generosity of some community members.

On Feb. 7 during an assembly at Echo Dene school Duntra, 13, was presented with an electric wheelchair that people had chipped in to help purchase for her. Previously Duntra relied on a manual wheelchair.

After watching Patricia Duntra, right, struggle to travel around Fort Liard, Gene Hope set out to get her the electric wheelchair seen left. - Roxanna Thompson/NNSL photo

The man behind the donation is Gene Hope.

For a while, Hope said he had seen Duntra traveling up and down the Fort Liard roads in her wheelchair. Often she needed someone's help to push her along. The idea to purchase an electric wheelchair came when Hope saw Duntra in the Northern Store for the first time after the building had a ramp installed.

In July, Hope set out to get donations. It only took one day for him to gather three quarters of the payment needed to buy a wheelchair.

Major contributors included Const. Jeff Myke who encouraged the RCMP to donate $500. The Yellowknife RCMP detachment has also pledged to donate $500, although the money hasn't arrived yet.

In total $1,630 was raised for the wheelchair that costs just over $2,200. Another $600 still has to be gathered.

To buy the wheelchair Hope phoned the Pharmasave in Fort Nelson, B.C., which orders the machines from a manufacturer.

Getting the wheelchair to Fort Liard proved to be more difficult than raising the funds.

The first wheelchair was sent to Nelson, B.C., by accident and lost in the mail. It still hasn't been found, said Hope. The second chair reached Fort Liard.

The wheelchair was kept a secret from the Duntra family. On Feb. 7, Doris Duntra, Patricia's mother, was brought to the school by her sister Margaret Klondike on the pretense of picking up school photos. She was surprised to see the new wheelchair.

"I'm so excited and happy," said Doris.

"I just don't know how to say thank you."

Doris said it's been hard for Patricia to travel around the hamlet independently. Patricia has needed a wheelchair since she developed a tumor on her spine when she was three.

With all the excitement in the gym, Patricia was a little shy. She was also nervous with her last wheelchair but soon got used to using it, said Doris. Patricia watched as Hope demonstrated the benefits of her new chair.

The wheelchair has five different speed settings, a horn and two battery packs that can power the chair for up to 20 miles on a single charge.

"She'll be able to get around town a lot better," said Hope.