Meet Guy, winner of the first responder smile makeover giveaway!
We received so many wonderful notimations for our First Responder Smile Makeover Giveaway. It was very difficult to pick a winner. However, we narrowed it down and are pleased to congratulate our male winner, Guty Taylor, on winning a brand new smile!
Below is Guy Taylor's nomination submitted by his wife. His lovely children also sent in nominations for Guy.
"Service: Duchesne County Search and Rescue Dates of Service: July 1984-Present
I nominate Guy Taylor, Jr. to win the Veteran's Giveaway Smile Makeover. He is in desperate need of having his teeth repaired with no means to pay for it. Throughout his life he has had many mishaps and accidents that have affected his overall health. At the present time he is in constant pain because his knees are worn out and needs replacement surgery on both knees. But before he can get his knees repaired, he has to take care of his dental work and make sure there is no infection in his body. Guy previously went to Stubbs Dental and had a consultation and received a quote on how much it would be to have his teeth repaired. The work has not been done because of lack of funds to pay for the extensive dental work required, Ever since that consultation he has constantly talked highly of Stubbs Dental and says that is where he wants to get his teeth fixed as soon as he can come up with the money.
When Guy was seven years old all of his family, except his dad, was in a vehicle that was being driven by his mother, they were struck head on by a vehicle driven by a drunk driver. His mother and baby sister died from their injuries. He ended up with a broken nose and his upper teeth were damaged. He spent some time in the hospital while he recovered from his inj'uries.
When he was in college he traveled from Provo back to the Uintah Basin, to Vernal, UT for a dental appointment. He went in for a checkup and get his teeth cleaned, When they x-rayed his teeth, they found cysts on the bones on his upper jaw that required emergency surgery. They said it was very likely cancer. The cysts were not malignant, but in the process two of his upper front teeth were permanently removed. The dentist fitted him with dentures to cover the empty spots in his mouth with wires to hold it in place. After wearing the plate for a period of time, the wires caused his back teeth to break. So, he stopped wearing the plate and later was fitted with a bridge. Now, after 30 years that plate is failing and is loose and he is only able to eat soft foods for fear that the bridge will completely break out and he will be left toothless on his front upper jaw.
Guy Taylor, Jr. is a hardworking, self employed, father of eight adult children and grandfather of 26. He owns and operates G.T. Enterprises of Duchesne, in Duchesne, UT. G.T. Enterprises is a repair shop with the following services: Towing, Mechanical Auto Repair, Auto Body Repair, Utah State Inspections, Boat Repair and Maintenance. Because of the small town of Duchesne his business has to be very diversified just to make ends meet. He works hard and has a great business reputation in the small town of being able to help customers be able to keep their vehicles in top running condition. Because of the pain he experiences in his knees there are many days that he has to walk using a cane. He desperately needs to get his teeth repaired so he can get his badly needed knee surgery.
In 1992 Guy was laid off from a job as an operator at Koch Hydrocarbons gas plant. He had been working at that job for 13 years. Life had been going very well, then suddenly without warning the gas plant closed and was torn down. The plant and all of the jobs were moved out of the State of Utah to North Dakota and Texas. He was left with no means to support his family; who at that time were all still living at home. His oldest son, who had a job working at a machine shop in Duchesne, took over paying the house payment for a couple of months while Guy searched for a job. But because most of the oil field jobs were gone, work was hard to find.
Guy had never been without employment and it was a very scary time. He had never drawn from the state unemployment funds and because of that he had quite a lot of unemployment benefits built up. He applied and received unemployment. Before long the funds ran out and he still had not found a place to work. Cont.: Guy Taylor, Jr. Over the years and through going to college he had acquired a lot of skills, he had learned how to repair and paint cars and in 1994 he decided that he would use those skills to start his own business. He found a building two miles North of Duchesne and made a deal with the owner to purchase the building. With no money in the bank he started G.T.Enterprises as a sole proprietor. Money was very tight because most of the income went toward purchasing tools and equipment for the new business.
Things are a little better now for Guy Taylor than it was in 1992. But it is still a struggle to make enough money to pay the bills and keep the business going. He works hard in spite of the fact that he has a hard time getting around because of his physical restrictions. If he could just get his teeth fixed and get the badly needed surgery on his knees life would be so much better. Guy tuned 65 last January and since he has owned his own business for the past 26 years, the only retirement he has is Social Security, which isn't enough to sustain him, so he continues to go to work every day to try to make a living. If the serious problem of his infections in his mouth and his bad knees are not solved, his quality of life is going to continue to deteriorate. Getting his teeth repaired is going to be the first step of getting him healthy. It is hard to give back to the community and to family when there are health concerns that need to be addressed.
Guy has been a Volunteer First Responder with the Duchesne County Search and Rescue for the past 36 years. Over the years of his service he has been instrumental in locating and saving hundreds of people who were lost or needed to be rescued in the Duchesne County area. Every month the search and rescue members meet to learn how to perform rescues on the water, in mountainous areas and in avalanche areas. Guy has performed rescues in a lake from a boat, in the mountains by repelling or on a 4-wheeler and in the winter on a snowmobile. For the past few years he has been in charge of teaching and demonstrating different ways to rescue people in the water, from vehicles that end up in a lake or river or from a sunken or wrecked boat. He is a very dedicated member of the Search and Rescue sometimes having to go on rescues that last many days. He continues his service today and is the oldest member of the force.
Not only does he volunteer as a first responder with the Search and Rescue in his business but he has multiple opportunities to help people who are in need. Often people call at all hours of the day or night with vehicle problems or in need of a tow. He drops everything to run to their side to help them get their vehicle running and get them back on the road. He has had many opportunities to use his Search and Rescue skills to aid in traumatic accidents while performing his towing services, On any given day he arrives back at home late because a customer needed his help. He will spend multiple hours working on a mechanical problem and when it is time to charge them for his labor, he charges them very little or says, ``Don't worry about it. I just wanted to help you out." That's the way Guy Taylor, Jr. is, he always wants to ``help people out."
Guy Taylor Jr. has a great need to have his dental work done and in my opinion he is the one who should be the recipient of Veteran's Giveaway Smile Makeover. It's time for somebody to "help him out." He has always been on the giving end of everything and it would be so great to see him be on the receiving end. His greatest service is to save people's lives and now I want to save his life. I want to see his toothy smile that I haven't seen since our college days when he had the cysts removed with the cancer scare."
We are so excited to give Guy a brand new permanent set of teeth! Check back for updates as we start this life changing journey.
