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Middlesex man still in good paws
Man and his heroic cat settle in their new home after close call in a fire
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Lloyd Sheaffer and Momma Cat enjoy their new home. Jason Malmont/The Sentinel
Lloyd Sheaffer is still in good paws more than a year after a fire destroyed his mobile home.
The Middlesex Township man may not have as many lives as his companion, but he has learned how to land on his feet again.
Now 51, Sheaffer credits Momma Cat for saving his life and the generosity of friends and strangers for helping him recover.
“God bless you all and thank you. I appreciate it all,” he says.
Sheaffer only wishes he was younger and in better health to return the many favors afforded to him since the Nov. 24, 2006, fire.
“I’m not a spring chicken anymore,” Sheaffer says.
Momma Cat remains a guardian angel — a calm reassuring presence for a man braving many obstacles in life.
“It hurts just thinking of the fire,” Sheaffer says. “But she pulled me through. No cat is ever going to replace her. She is my baby doll. My hero.”
Sheaffer was in bed sleeping about 11:30 p.m. that fateful night when his cat jumped on his chest and woke him up.
When Sheaffer got up to investigate her unusual behavior, he saw smoke in the kitchen and fled his home of seven years.
The cat vanished into the night, only to show up later when Sheaffer returned to survey the damage.
Fire gutted the front of his old single-wide mobile home on a lot at 3780 Spring Road. Sheaffer lost almost everything that night to heat, smoke and water damage -- including his clothing and furniture.
Community Baptist Church in Carlisle coordinated relief efforts to help Sheaffer by taking donations of clothing and furniture. The items were turned over to Sheaffer after a replacement mobile home had been installed.
The donated goods include two old red-cushioned chairs Sheaffer put in his living room.
“Me and Momma Cat never really had something as beautiful as these,” he says.
Sheaffer made good use of donations deposited on his behalf at the M&T Bank branch in North Middleton Township -- “I bought a new box spring, a bed frame and a small TV for my bedroom.”
An old friend, Bill Adams, gave Sheaffer a color TV set.
“I came home one day and it was sitting right there on the porch,” Sheaffer says. “Bill manhandled it all by himself. He’s pretty strong for his age.”
Back and leg problems make it hard for Sheaffer to get around. He survives month to month on disability checks and takes medication for diabetes, high blood pressure and a heart condition.”
Last year had its share of challenges. Sheaffer had to be hospitalized twice for health problems and he still carries painful memories of the fire. He recently lost his van after it was damaged in an accident with a deer.
There are reasons to be hopeful. Sheaffer is getting help from the Stevens Mental Health Center and the Cumberland-Perry Association for Retarded Citizens.
Sheaffer is taking swimming lessons twice a week on orders from his doctor.
“I’m trying to build up my health,” he says.
He used to swim often in high school and even volunteered to teach children.
Some local residents may remember Sheaffer from when he worked at Larry’s Trading Post for 21 years as a delivery boy and member of the store’s clean-up crew.
Known to some as Little Bucky, Sheaffer shares his nickname “Buck” with his father, Clarence Brownawell, who died about seven years ago.
Sheaffer says he could use a sleeper coach in his living room and a new vehicle to get around in.
Mary Horn, 58, of Shermans Dale is Sheaffer’s older sister. When able, she tries to help her brother if he needs something but also encourages him to continue to live an independent life.
“I appreciate everything everyone has done for him,” Horn says. “I am glad the community helped him. I am also happy the landlord has allowed him to stay at the mobile home park.”
Horn adds her brother is happy knowing the cat is there to keep him company. She thought it was uncanny the cat knew just what to do to save Sheaffer.
“When things come around, animals are not so dumb,” she says.
