Joshua Hoffman and his fiancee, Heather Lovell, attend the Memorial Day parade in Middleville.Quadriplegic former Marine Joshua Hoffman waited in a van at Michigan's Adventure, hoping to see fiancee Heather Lovell in the park for an hour or two. Her father, Rockford resident Joel Lovell, explained to park staff that Hoffman is paralyzed and cannot talk. He assumed Hoffman would be admitted free.
But Lovell was told he would have to pay admission for Hoffman and the nurse tending to his medical needs. No exceptions.
"He went to Iraq for all of us and took a bullet in the neck. He sacrificed everything for his country," Joel Lovell said.
"I was just kind of stunned."
According to Heather Lovell, she and Hoffman planned to rendezvous from their home near Middleville on May 29 at the Muskegon County park, before heading to Reed City for the high school graduation of Hoffman's stepbrother.
Lovell had gone ahead to act as chaperone for a niece and others on a school outing. Joel Lovell picked up Hoffman and his nurse and headed for the park.
But Heather Lovell said she got a call from her father telling her to come to the park entrance.
"It was really just outrageous," she said. "He is not physically going on any rides. To me, this is very personal."
Hoffman, 27, was paralyzed from the chest down when he was hit by a sniper's bullet in Iraq in January 2007. He spent more than a year in a Virginia Veterans Administration hospital before coming home in March 2008.
He and Lovell, 22, share a specially equipped house with 24-hour nursing staff to assist Hoffman.
Camille Jourden-Mark, general manager of Michigan's Adventure, said park policy does not allow any non-participants in free.
"We just can't be in a position of picking and choosing. We have grandparents (who pay admission) that come in our park every day that have no intention of ever going on a ride.
"It's not based on the level of participation."
On Tuesday, Jourden-Mark offered complementary passes for Hoffman and a guest to Michigan's Adventure in response to the issue. Lovell said she has not decided whether she and Hoffman will use the passes.
"You want to be appreciative of it, but it took a lot of people complaining to them to realize what kind of mistake they had made," Lovell said. "We weren't looking for a free trip. It's just a problem with the policy."
Jourden-Mark said company policy is meant to shield employees from accusations of discrimination, but added "there are times when we make exceptions and this is definitely one of those times."
She noted the park offers one free admission with a paid admission for service members each Memorial Day. Jourden-Mark said park staff were unaware of Hoffman's condition.
"I don't think anybody was really aware that he was a veteran."
That's not what Joel Lovell, 54, recalled.
"I told (a park official) it is really a crummy policy. I explained that he is an Iraq veteran. He got shot in the neck and can't eat or talk. I thought they were joking."
Lovell said he initially was told he would have to pay the adult admission fee of $25 each for Hoffman and the nurse, then was offered a student discount.
Heather Lovell's sister, Belding resident Rebecca Lovell, said she contacted the park Friday to complain.
"I explained the extent of his injuries, that he was simply going for an hour or two.
"(A park official) said there was no proof of his injury. He could be faking it. She said if we let him come in for free, then we have to change our policy."
"I was absolutely blown away."
-- Press reporter Jacob Carpenter contributed to this story.
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