Church Group Rallies To Raise Funds For Man Paralyzed In Shooting

Joe Cathcart is alive and talking, but he can't move anything from his neck down. A random shooting on July Fourth left him paralyzed and in intensive care.<br/>

Sunday, October 26th 2014, 11:18 pm

By: News On 6

Church Group Rallies To Raise Funds For Man Paralyzed In Shooting

Church members are helping a Tulsa man who was shot in his neighborhood three months ago.

Police said the shooter walked up to him, asked him his name and shot him.

Joe Cathcart is still in recovery at Hillcrest Medical Center.

The "Scripture Rally" held over the weekend by his church members raised money to get Carthcart home and into more advanced care.

Cathcart is alive and talking, but he can't move anything from his neck down. A random shooting on July Fourth left him paralyzed and in intensive care.

Police said a man parked his motorcycle in Cathcart's neighborhood near Pine and Sheridan, walked up to him, asked him his name and opened fire.

Carthcart's wife says the shooting shattered several vertebrae.

“It's very difficult for him just laying in that bed, being trapped in his body," Denise Cathcart said.

7/4/2014 Related Story: Motorcyclist Shoots Man Outside North Tulsa Home

More than three months later, Denise is trying to get her husband home.

With the help of Cathcart's church group, they are raising money to build a wheelchair ramp, pay for living expenses and find a spinal institute to help him regain some mobility.

Pastor Dixie Pebworth said Cathcart just put his family and life back together after recovering from drug addiction and serving a prison sentence.

Pebworth says things were going well until the shooting happened.

“Our goal is to try to bridge the gap and try and help them to keep everything they have so they don't become double victims of a crime that happened here in Tulsa, Oklahoma," Pebworth said.

Pebworth held a "Scripture Rally" over the weekend, hoping to raise more than $10,000 for Cathcart.

“In our church, we're like a family,” Pebworth said. “When someone goes down or someone gets hurt or someone needs assistance we try to join together to help them out.”

Denise said she leaves work every day to be by her husband's side as he recovers.

“Thank God for the church, they've helped us a lot,” she said. “We've both made the same amount of money so half of our income is gone, so it's been a very big struggle."

Denise said she doesn't know when Joe will be released from the rehab center.

The family said the suspected shooter took his own life the next day.

For the Joe Cathcart fund, click here and put “Joe Cathcart” in the notes in the donation.