“This is starting to be an exercise in futility,” says Vincent St. Pierre, Hehr’s executive assistant. St. Pierre is kneeling on the floor, trying to replace the batteries on Hehr’s wheelchair, stuffing them into the undercarriage after cutting off their oversized plastic handles with a butter knife. Changing the batteries is usually a 20-minute process, but today it’s taken almost an hour.

Bryn Evans, October 1, 2015