Tony is a survivor, and he wasn’t going to let debt defeat him.
It wasn’t the devastating car accident that put Tony deep into debt.
In 1998, Tony wasn’t wearing a seatbelt during a freak accident. “I got tossed out of the car,” the Massachusetts resident says, adding that, “the car landed on top of me.”
Fortunately, there was a police officer nearby.
“He found me, like, right away,” Tony says. “He happened to be there.”
The officer and others had to lift the car off Tony. None thought he’d survive. Tony did, and the officer actually won a service medal for his efforts. ‘I always sent him a thank-you card every year,” Tony says. “I got a picture of him on the wall, – and he’s got a picture of me.”
Sadly, the accident left Tony in a wheelchair, with a host of medical problems.
“I get collapsed lungs, I get recurrent pneumonia,” Tony says. So when the pandemic hit, Tony was even more restricted than before. He couldn’t risk getting COVID.
“I was pretty much a prisoner in my own home,” he says. “Even if I wanted to go to work, I couldn’t.” For years, Tony had been a tutor.
“I was pretty much a prisoner in my own home,” he says. “Even if I wanted to go to work, I couldn’t.” For years, Tony had been a tutor.
Losing his income was only half the problem. Because he couldn’t go out, he had to order in everything.
“Food was a big issue,” he says. “Delivery plus food is expensive because they get a tip, and a delivery fee.”
Given all that, Tony says, “Somehow I was actually lucky to say that I ended up with only $10,000 in debt.”
Of course, he adds, that was “still a huge burden because I don’t have any savings anymore. And nobody’s helping me.”
Nobody, that is, until he called Consolidated Credit.
Making the call
At first, Tony resisted reaching out to Consolidated Credit: “I don’t like the idea of being a charity case, but it’s not like that there.”
When he called, he realized he wasn’t a charity case. He was a client working with his certified credit counselor.
“It was very quick and easy,” Tony says. “They made it as accommodating as possible.”
Tony’s credit counselor enrolled him in a debt management program – “which I didn’t even know they were out there. I never heard of it.”
Now that he’s heard of DMPs, he adores them.
“Everybody’s winning,” he says. “The credit card company is getting paid. I’m getting out of debt. I’m not constantly preoccupied with money. And Consolidated Credit is making it easier to survive. And that’s exactly what I’m doing. I’m disabled, but I found a way to make it happen, and I’m very appreciative.”
