Kathy Cook, the Lead VR Counselor for Eastern Oregon got to work. Norton needed a truck to get to work and home, but also to be able to keep the historical Round Barn open and to do the needed ranch work. “I could wear my legs to work but end of day I had to take them off. He had to guess about the needed pressure on the pedals. His leg could get stuck under the brake pedal and his feet could not feel the gas or brake pedals. Norton had a van, but it was an old 17-person tour van and he used his prosthetic legs to drive. But working there meant that Norton's wife, Zina, had to drive 58 miles each way to and from their home in Burns. Besides the Round Barn being an historical site, the Visitor Center is sort of a way station for locals and tourists where they stop, get a snack, chat. The visitor center is a hub of activity in rural Oregon. Norton, his wife, Zina, and his mother-in-law, Patricia Jenkins, had to take over running the Visitor Center. Two years ago, his father-in-law, Dick Jenkins, who built the Round Barn Visitor Center at the Pete French State Historical Site Round Barn, died. Life changes and different employment needs then led to another opportunity to work with VR. Norton participated with the Vocational Rehabilitation (VR) program to identify barriers to employment, needs for accommodations and resources for his job as a cashier with Grocery Outlet in Burns, Oregon. He has a sense of humor and a positive and fun attitude toward life. I get good parking places and I never have to stand in line," said Norton, in true Norton style. He uses prosthetic legs and a wheelchair. The accident caused the loss of his legs above the knees as well as 136 broken bones, a separated aorta, crushed vertebrae and more than three days of straight surgery. As he was picking up his bike, he was hit and dragged 270 yards by a man driving a van. In 2004, Norton was riding his motorcycle when he struck a deer. Marty Norton and his new truck, which gives him the ability to get to his job and do the work at his job.
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