Raymond Kelley
Throughout his 89 years, Raymond Kelley has endured his fair share of grief and hardship. But he found a breath of fresh air in discovering the kind of care rendered by ACV and its team, which he describes as “people who treat you right.”
Raymond was born and raised in Bancroft, a rural village in lower mid-Michigan’s Shiawassee County with a population of about 500. At the tender age of 11, Raymond recalls that “our mother didn’t want any part of us anymore,” so he and his 10 siblings were made wards of the state, common back in the early 1940s, and “we were scattered all over.” He has no recollection of his father.
Raymond ended up in Ann Arbor, at a facility whose name he can’t recall, but remembers being “a place that took kids that nobody wanted.”
In school, he had difficulty passing English classes, and made it only as far as 9th grade. He worked odd jobs until he was 18, at which time he joined the Army, in 1949.
The United States had already joined forces with other nations to combat North Korea in a conflict that would claim nearly 3,400 soldiers’ lives. In 15 months there, Raymond saw “plenty of action” and earned a Purple Heart after incurring head injuries caused by a mortar round.
After returning to Michigan following his stint in the service, Raymond worked here and there, including time at a service station. Raymond eventually developed problems with circulation to both legs. “I asked my sister-in-law, who had similar problems, to recommend a good doctor.” She referred him to one, but Raymond shares that he did not have a good experience.
He tried several other medical teams, but to no avail. At one point, Raymond remembers telling himself that “I’ve had enough” and looked for another option. He found Dr. Mustapha seven or eight years ago.
Raymond now lives in northern Indiana with a full-time caregiver and is able to “walk pretty good as long as I have my walker, though my balance is lousy. I can get my own breakfast and feed the cats and get around pretty well.”
Raymond asserts that if ACV and its team hadn’t intervened, “I’d be dead by now.
“I’ll tell ya, they’re the best in the world. There’s nobody better.
According to Raymond, if a patient is encouraged to see anyone other than Drs. Mustapha and Saab, “they should run!
“Go see Dr. Mustapha or Dr. Saab instead,” he says, and they’ll do you right. They’ll never lie to you; they’ll tell you what they can and can’t do. They’re wonderful doctors, and extremely smart.
“They saved me.”
