Document text
70 °F Forecast | Road Cams Thursday, September 16, 2004 Today's News | Classifieds | Autos | Homes | Jobs | Tempo | Health | Community | Home Delivery SECTIONS Home Page Local News Sports Business Obituaries Life Opinion - Politics Tempo AP News Weather Classified Archives Site Map SPECIAL SECTIONS Since We Asked Outdoor Journal How To Guide Wellness Connection Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Wedding Guide Rogue Valley's Finest EXTRA Newspaper in Education Personals Movie Times TV Times E The People MARKETPLACE Find a Car Find a Home Find a Job Classifieds Place an ad eSouthernOregon Automotive Communities Entertainment Publications Recreation Calendar CUSTOMER SERVICE Frequent Questions Advertising Information Home Delivery Employment Contact Us Media Kit Network Affiliate Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend May 13, 2004 Hazel Bugg doesn�t let the loss of a leg slow her down � she puts in 10 miles of travel twice a week on her 10-mph scooter in order to volunteer as a beautician at a Medford assisted living center. Mail Tribune / Roy Musitelli Beauty care from ‘a big caring heart’ Beautician likes to make folks look and feel good — even though she can no longer work By BUFFY POLLOCK for the Mail Tribune When Medford beautician Hazel Bugg lost her right leg to bone disease two years ago, she knew she would never return to working — or standing — for eight or more hours a day at any hair salon. What she wasn’t about to give up were the social aspects of making folks look and feel good about themselves. The cheerful soon-to-be 60-year-old now spends about 18 hours a week providing free manicures and pedicures for residents at Orchards Assisted Living in Medford. Five years after becoming a hair stylist for Mastercuts, Bugg broke her leg in May 2000. She already had a titanium rod in her leg, the result of a bone cell tumor, and developed bone disease that cost her the leg. Bugg said that as she recovered, she assessed her situation and decided not to feel sorry for herself. Advertisement "I always knew eventually I was going to lose my leg, so I took care of it as much as I could while I had it," she said. "But I wasn’t about to just stop living. It was just a leg. I still had the rest of me!" Bugg said she decided to volunteer at Orchards because she could relate to how residents felt faced with limited transportation and mobility, and because she spent much of her hair-styling career providing free beauty care for shut-ins and now missed helping others. After seeing her in action for three months at the Orchards, staff members and residents say Bugg is quickly climbing to celebrity status. They say she often waits for residents whose doctor appointments run long or takes on the challenge of cheering up a resident who’s feeling down. They’re also astonished at the effort she makes just to get to her volunteer work. She starts from home on Orchard Home Drive, nearly five miles away, and drives to Orchards, on Royal Court just off East McAndrews Road, on an electric scooter that tops out at 10 mph. "I go everywhere in Medford on it," Bugg said of her mode of transportation. "It takes me an hour each way. It gets me out of the house so I’m not sitting around wringing my hands." "People just love her so much," said Cheryl Wheeler, a marketing associate at Orchards. "She has a big, caring heart and she really listens to what they have to say. If she sees someone who looks unhappy she goes up to them to find out why." Postal employees, Wheeler said, have nothing on Bugg when it comes to "neither rain, nor sleet, nor snow." "This woman has driven that scooter of hers down here in the rain," said Wheeler. "She cares so much and goes so far out of her way to help the seniors because she knows they can’t get out to get their nails done and they don’t have the money to do it either. She just goes above and beyond." Orchards resident Shirley Baylor, who moved to the facility in recent weeks, said Bugg’s optimism is refreshing and her work is top notch. "I’ve been to Hazel three different times for toenails and fingernails," said Baylor. "I think it’s just wonderful to be in this facility and have such a wonderful lady come in offering to volunteer her time. She’s a lovely lady, always smiling, very calm." Baylor said it was inspiring to see how Bugg didn’t let a disability control her life. "She’s just so sweet and so happy. She’s always got a smiling face. She’s had a hard time, but my — you’d never know it. She never says ‘poor me.’ " Buffy Pollock is a free-lance writer living in Medford. E-mail her at [email protected]. Mail Tribune Home Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life Opinion - Politics | AP News | Archives | Site Map E Southern Oregon | Classified Copyright © 1997-2004 Mail Tribune. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions Website Feedback ADVERTISERS A D V E R T I S E R S SPECIAL SECTIONS Auto Finder Job Finder Home Finder Joy Magazine Homelife Magazine Tempo Readers' Choice Real Estate Showcase Since We Asked Outdoor Journal Moving to Southern Oregon? Volunteer Opportunities