Juanita Stuart, Profiled In Obama Infomercial, Benefits From Anonymous Donor

Just before the election, the Obama campaign bought 30 minutes of airtime for a spot that profiled four American families struggling to live the American Dream. Half a year later, one of those families, Larry and Juanita Stuart, an older couple living in Sardinia, Ohio, continues to scrape by. But that's not to say their role in the video didn't change their lives.

The Stuarts owned their own home and had looked forward to a comfortable retirement.

"But with [Juanita's] rheumatoid arthritis, and other ailments, her medical bills have been rising," said Obama in the ad. "To meet their payments, they've had to take a loan on their house. And they're losing equity."

And Larry Stuart, long retired from the B&O Railroad, had to go back to work. In the video, depressing piano music played as Stuart, 72, put on a Wal-Mart name tag. "Associate salesman," he said. "In other words, I just sell stuff."

The ad brought plenty of attention to the Stuarts. Friends called, and so did strangers. And so did a lawyer who represented somebody who wanted to become Juanita Stuart's anonymous benefactor.

"Someone that saw that ad, wanted to help me and so I've had surgery," Stuart told the Huffington Post. "I've had implants in three of my fingers."

The Stuarts' problems haven't gone away by any means, but the surgery provided an emotional boost.

"We're just like most middle class people... My dishwasher is not working, I can't afford for the plumber to come in," Stuart says, "but I'm so happy about my hand and my surgery, so life kind of balances itself out."

Stuart said she has no idea who the anonymous donor is.

"It's an angel from somewhere," she said. "I'm really really happy and I'm sure President Obama doesn't know about my anonymous donor and the help I've received for all my copays."

The Arthritis Foundation featured Stuart at its annual advocacy summit in March, where Stuart told her story and met with members of Congress.

"She has become a terrific advocate for the Arthritis Foundation," said Amy Melnick, the organization's chief public policy officer, in an interview with the Huffington Post. As for Stuart's anonymous angel, Melnick said, "That's terrific for her, but it's obviously not a solution for the nation. There are countless Americans who have that permanent joint damage who don't have access to medication."

Not everybody reacted like an angel to the Stuarts' story. The conservative site Free Republic questioned the Stuarts' existence (they had the wrong name-spelling). "Some Republicans felt that it was something not really legitimate about us," Stuart said.

Pleased as Juanita Stuart is to have help with her medical bills, her husband still has to punch the clock part-time at Wal-Mart.

"I work in the lawn and garden department. A lot of people buying grills, lawnmowers, flowers, fertilizer and mulch," he told the Huffington Post. A few days ago someone asked him how long he planned to keep working.

"In a few days I'll be 73 years old. I'd rather not be working," he said. He didn't know when he'd stop, but he said he knew exactly how he'd do it.

"I'm gonna leave the house, and when I get to the store, I'll hand my badge to the boss and walk back out."

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Comments

[RoadCrossingChicken]

11:19 AM on 05/27/2009

My mother had to move in with us two weeks after my dad died. She could not continue to pay the rent after his death because the retirement benefits were cut in half (Dad was a union member, a Teamster.). And her social security benefits were also cut. She loves us and we love her, but she did not want to give up having her own home.

It is good to know someone came through for this couple. They come across as very nice, hard-working people... not looking for a handout but, in need of a helping hand to keep on keeping on.

It is really hard to see our older Americans lose their homes and with that their dignity and self confidence. After all the hard work they have done, they should not have to spend their last few years in fear of losing their home from month to month.

[westreal]

10:51 AM on 05/27/2009

My guess is Oprah as the secret angel.

Regardless it's good to see there are people with hearts out there.

[inorbit]

10:29 AM on 05/27/2009

It's barbaric that people like the Stuarts, who have always done the right thing all of their lives, have to suffer like this. Absolutely, sickeningly, barbaric. This would not happen to them if they were living in Western or Northern Europe.

[babyboomerorig]

11:14 AM on 05/27/2009

There are probably millions more of us like the Stuarts who will never have a "guardian angel" to assist us as we age.

Nobody care if we did everything right throughout our lives and have nothing.

My biggest concern, though, is for the thousands of families who are now homeless, living in tents with children who shouldn't have to see these things in the US....it's just not right.

[mitsu63]

11:58 AM on 05/27/2009

I agree 100%. I have a friend who is 64 years old and dealing with cancer for the 3rd time. She is getting old and tired and doesn't know how she will deal with going through chemo again. She has no children to help out...she used to own a mobile home but had to sell it after her illness made her unable to work. Now she rents an upstairs room in an older house in a not-so-good neighborhood. After years of working in a professional industry she has had to go to work as a night clerk at a motel; it was the only job she could find. Of course now that she has cancer again, she won't be able to keep even that job. How will she live? Who will take her to the doctor's appointments when she is too sick to drive? She is applying for food stamps and hoping something will turn out okay...but when I last visited her on Sunday, she let me know that she is planning on taking some of the little money she has left saved up and buying herself a gun. Just in case.

[mharg11]

10:09 AM on 05/27/2009

This is a great story and as great are the many comments posted along with it. It is so uplifting to see the positive good thinking and kind people who have responded. Change has come and is still coming to America. Let us all be our brothers keeper in whatever way we can.

[LucieLee]

08:37 AM on 05/27/2009

What a great thing!!

[Mixpixlix]

08:00 AM on 05/27/2009

As I've reminded more than one GOP bible thumper.... Jesus was a HEALER. It always makes them stop! And seems to come as a shock as they remember the New Testiment tales of healing the sick, blind, lame and even raising the dead. All without charge or expectation of reward.

While I understand there is no such thing as free, healthcare should and hopefully will be affordable and accessible for all Americans.

Try this tactic next time someone shouts down healthcare reform. They know not of what they speak.

[mharg11]

10:01 AM on 05/27/2009

Thank you for your comment. It is so true.

[Periwinkle]

07:57 AM on 05/27/2009

Where do I sign up to do a commercial? It's sad that in this, the so-called "greatest" nation on earth, some have to go without necessary healthcare. I'm happy for this lady, but there are millions of people like her out in the real world, including me. I've worked hard all my life, paid my taxes, followed all the rules, never been "on the dole," and yet there isn't an insurance company that will offer me a policy at any price because of age and pre-existing conditions. Single payer now. If we can afford wars that kill and maim millions of innocent people, we can surely afford a government-sponsored healthcare system that takes care of our own citizens.

[soupson52]

10:20 AM on 05/27/2009

Amen! Think of the healthcare we could have provided with Hal's war profit.

[scully05]

07:53 AM on 05/27/2009

If I was rich, there would not be anything I would not try to do for someone in need. Most people in this country, need the help. The ones who never had a chance to have anything. Of course, like the anonymous donor, I would be that too. I would not want to parade around about being the one who helped someone.
When you're gone, you can't take it with you!


Kudo's for them, whoever it was.

[vonPinto]

05:55 AM on 05/27/2009

I have always believed that America has an abundance of good, fair-minded citizens (except republicans). Good luck to this amiable old couple.

[ChelseaC]

03:46 AM on 05/27/2009

Good luck to you, Juanita.

[impik]

03:06 AM on 05/27/2009

Just another example of the no-small good things Obama is doing for the small people. Bless that donor. Goodness will prevail.

[TchoupitoulasCanal]

02:29 AM on 05/27/2009

That's wonderful to hear.....my only hope is that the Juanita's of the world (and so many others like her) won't have to live from paycheck to paycheck simply to obtain the care that they so desperately need.

I'm a nurse, and I don't know what all the answers are......BUT we definitely need to start having the "hard talk" to come up with a solution and fast!

[jamesreid]

12:45 AM on 05/27/2009

If only the GOP, beginning with "Huck the holy hypocrit" would actually read the parable of the good samaritan in Luke's gospel. I love to hear the Repugnant Pharisees tell us how wrong it is to provide health care. Thanks to the anonymous donor who acts like an apostle.

PRETENDING YOU ARE SAVED (AND OTHERS AREN'T) IS DEFINITELY NOT WJWD!

[vonPinto]

05:58 AM on 05/27/2009

Remember Jesus spoke about the "whited sepulcher" and called the Pharisees "a brood of vipers". It is not all those who wear "god" on their sleeves that will make salvation.

The average GOP is an irredeemable hypocrite. Huckabee is no exception.

[goodtomeetyou]

12:29 AM on 05/27/2009

That is uplifting news.

[ketchupandfries]

12:04 AM on 05/27/2009

Very glad that the Stuarts got help. Way to go Anonymous Donor! You're the best!