‘Do what I can’

By John Veasey
Times West Virginian

FAIRMONT February 23, 2009 12:33 am

— If you visit the tidy home of Martha Wayt, you may be invited into her craft room. That’s where Martha keeps a goodly supply of thread, lace, fabric and yarn of every color imaginable, along with all of the other tools of her trade.
The items are organized, in well-marked boxes, and Martha knows right where everything is located. What makes this so amazing is that Martha has glaucoma and has been legally blind since 1988.
Martha doesn’t let her blindness get her down. She spends hours working on projects that make life better for many people. Last year she crocheted outfits for more than 60 dolls. Those dolls were delivered to the Salvation Army, the Red Cross and to several nursing homes.
She is totally deserving as an “Everyday Hero.” — Joyce Irons

Martha Wayt is an interesting woman who lives in Colfax and works for others despite her health problems.
She collects discarded old dolls that have long since lost their usefulness. Her friends and neighbors bring some of the dolls to her, but most of the time, she has someone to drive her to yard sales, Goodwill, Penny Pinchers or anywhere that she is apt to find old dolls.
The dolls are cleaned up, and then Martha designs an outfit for them and goes to work. She may dress a boy doll in a camouflage outfit or a little suit. The girl dolls are dressed in dresses with matching hats. Those dolls without shoes are fitted with tiny little slippers. Each doll is a labor of love made by this “Everyday Hero.”
“I crochet dresses for them. I can’t see very well so it’s all done by feel,” she said. “I enjoy making them for the Salvation Army for Christmas. I’ve given some to the Red Cross, and I’ve taken some to the John Manchin Sr. Health Care Center.”
She said she’s done this for the past few years.
“I’ve crocheted a lot. Made afghans and things like that for people,” she said. “But when my eyes started going bad, I had to learn to crochet by feel. I’ve had problems with my eyes since 1988. I’ve had diabetes and glaucoma.
“You just have to learn to live with it.”
Her eye problems have necessitated numerous surgeries.
“I’m still on pills for my diabetes,” she said. “But I’ve had 14 eye surgeries since 1988. It’s been four or five years since doctors said glasses wouldn’t help me. They said they had done as much as they could.”
She has other health problems as well.
“I have trouble with my back, and I also have arthritis. I caught my foot on the steps twice and fell. But I have an aide who comes in each day and cooks for me, and a guardian who calls every evening. She enjoys coming by once in a while and checking on me.
“So I’m just limited in what I can do. But I always try to do what I can.
“That’s why I spend all the time I can crocheting dresses and outfits for my dolls,” she said.
E-mail John Veasey at jcveasey@timeswv.com.

Copyright © 1999-2008 cnhi, inc.