Kids & Family

Famous Tenor Helps Replace Somerville Woman's Stolen Wheelchair Van

The van was stolen from the woman's Spring Street driveway on Christmas morning.

Somerville’s Mary Houghton has largely been stuck in her Spring Street home since Christmas morning.

Houghton has cerebral palsy, and that’s when someone stole her wheelchair van from her driveway.

“It’s really tough getting around,” Houghton’s sister, Kathleen Houghton, told 7 News. “Mary’s lost a lot of her activities out in the community.”

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Enter Irish tenor Ronan Tynan, who has been friends with the Houghton family for many years.

“We are getting this van, hell or high water, we are getting this van,” Tynan remembered thinking to 7 News Wednesday.

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Over the past four months, Tynan and other family friends have helped raise money for a new van. Tynan presented Houghton with her new van Wednesday at her work program, Shore Educational Collaborative in Chelsea.

Kathleen said Tynan launched the fundraising campaign on his own, without expecting any publicity. Mary Houghton is the youngest of eight siblings, who have been taking care of her since their parents’ deaths, Kathleen said.

“You can see just in her face, she’s thrilled, she’s thrilled to pieces about this,” Kathleen told 7 News. “ … We’ve been fans and friends of Ronan for so long, him doing this for us, it’s just so meaningful, it’s really amazing.”


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