ROANOKE RAPIDS — Pam Porch said she almost didn’t come, as she sat down in the conference room at The Daily Herald. She was embarrassed to ask for help, but didn’t know what else to do.

Contributed photo | The Daily Herald Dale “Switch” Yates is well known in the Roanoke Valley. Recently, he was in a swimming accident and left quadriplegic. His sister Pam Porch has been at his side for the past three months but they need help getting him home. Advertisement

Porch and her husband, Andy, are well known in the area. Porch and her family are from Roanoke Rapids. She and Andy have five children and for the past two years she’s been living with the hell of having both parents suffering from cancer. She lost them both Easter weekend this year.

Porch was working through the grief when within four months of her parents’ death, she got the call her brother, Dale “Switch” Yates was hospitalized in Baltimore. He needed her.

Porch didn’t hesitate, and for the past three months she’s spent most of her days taking care of her brother.

Dale is an electrician, who’s known by many in the Roanoke Valley. He attended Northwest Halifax High School. He was in the Baltimore area on a construction job. One night at the hotel, there was an accident in the pool, and Dale broke his neck, and damaged his spinal cord. He’s quadriplegic, paralyzed in all four limbs. Porch said he can’t talk, and he has to be hooked up to a breathing machine.

While Porch and her family are doing all they can do to help Dale, he wants and they need for him to come home where they can care for him. Because he has to be transported in a specially equipped ambulance, it will cost between $2,000 and $4,000 to bring him back. “He will live at home with me,” said Porch. “I miss my children bad, but I can’t abandon my brother. He has a promising future if I can get him home because he’ll have somebody to take care of him.”

The family is selling T-shirts with “SWITCH” on the back, and “Keep Switch Close to your Heart,” on the front for $15 to help raise money to bring Dale home. You can call 537-5737 if you’d like to buy one. Donations can also be made to New Life Church of Christ in Dale’s name. The address is 1718 East 10th St., Roanoke Rapids N.C. or call 535-5355 for more information.