NORTH ANDOVER — Cindy Ward still remembers the time she had to phone her mother in the middle of the night, asking to borrow $10 so she could rush her son Willie to Massachusetts General Hospital during one of his many medical emergencies.
Ward had $5 in her pocket that night, not nearly enough to cover tolls, parking and gas into Boston.
"It happened more than once ... I'd say 10 percent of my husband's paycheck goes to transportation," she said at her Devon Court home. "For the past 32 years, we've lived paycheck to paycheck, and it gets tighter every year. We've never had more than $500 to $600 in savings."
Ward's son Willie, 32, was born with spina bifida, or a hole over his spine.
To date Willie has had brain surgery about 55 times, most of them before his 10th birthday. One year he had surgery nearly every six weeks. He uses a wheelchair and functions at the level of a 12-year-old and, like many people with spina bifida, he has a severe latex allergy, his kidneys are failing and he has limited control over his bodily functions.
For Ward, Boston hospitals have been a home away from home and the trip there has always been a stressful one to begin with.
So Ward, 59, a Merrimack Valley representative of the Spina Bifida Association, is one of many speaking out against the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority's proposed toll increases that would double the cost to drive through the Ted Williams and Sumner Tunnels — from $3.50 to $7 — and would increase the Allston-Brighton tolls from $1.25 to $2.
The hikes would take effect in April.
A video showing Ward and Willie will play at a Stop the Pike Hike rally today at 4 p.m. at the Ecco Restaurant and Martini Bar in East Boston. She couldn't be there herself because Willie has a kidney stone surgery scheduled.
She wants people to know it's not just people who travel into Boston for work, the airports, sports games and entertainment who will be affected. It's not only the livery and delivery businesses that will take a hit.
The thousands who are stuck in the hospitals most of their lives with debilitating diseases, the parents who have premature babies who cannot come home for months, the cancer patients who need constant treatment will suffer even more, Ward said.
"These families are not going to Boston to earn money. They're going to spend money already," Ward said. "I have parents calling me and young adults like Willie who are out on their own. All they say is, 'What am I going to do now?'"
She said most families, like her own, are already bankrupted through medical bills, the price of pills — Willie takes 37 pills a day — and other day-to-day costs associated with a prolonged ailment.
While her husband was a police officer and later a MassHighway employee, she said they've still needed to live in subsidized housing, since there's hardly any money after the medical bills are paid.
Then, parking at Massachusetts General Hospital costs $9 for more than a 2-hour stay. And a round-trip ride to Boston eats up gas quickly.
"When your kid is in for a week-long stay, that adds up," she said. "Some people say, 'Well, don't visit your kid.' He's my kid. Sometimes I've slept in the hospital room to save money."
Ward no longer has to pay tolls, since moving from Wakefield to North Andover in 1980, but she speaks on behalf of every mother who still does. She's afraid people will stop seeking top-notch Boston hospital care for their illnesses because it's just an added expense when things are already tight.
"I fight and I don't give up," she said. "Don't punish us because the Big Dig wasn't done right. It's not our fault ... I talked to a mother in Lynn who hasn't been able to pay the phone bill for the past couple months. She doesn't know how she'll afford a toll increase. She was crying."
Ward now tries to get some of Willie's medical care done in area hospitals, which is not always easy, considering all his near-fatal ailments and allergies. She still visits Boston at least once a week.
Ward said she wouldn't be opposed to a gas tax.
"Whatever it is, we should all pay," she said. "I'm not asking for a handout. We're making it. But stop making things worse."
