BY ENRIQUE HEREDERO
FLORIDA TODAY

Ruth Yurkiewicz was driving her husband to the Mayo Clinic in Jacksonville when one of the tires blew out and she got stuck on I-95.

She put her husband in the wheelchair as traffic wooshed by. She reached into her purse, pulled out a cell phone and dialed 911. Help came.

While many people carry cell phones these days, many senior citizens do not, because many can't afford it.

The 82-year-old Yurkiewicz, a Fellsmere resident for 20 years, didn't buy her cell. The Indian River Sheriff's Office gave her the phone for free when she asked for it.

The sheriff's office in Brevard and Indian River counties both have similar cell phone give-away programs.

Since the summer of 2002, both agencies have each given away more than 200 phones. The catch is: you have to be a senior, you have to have some kind of health problem, the phone is for 911 use only and you have to obtain the phone from the county you live in.

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