Rent-to-own News - RNR rallies around manager in fight for his life

Carlos Reyna with daughers (l to r) Kamilla and Karla and wife, Rosie.

When Robert Reed went to work with his manager, Carlos Reyna, at the Gulf Freeway Rent-n-Roll Nov. 9, he had no idea anything was awry with his good friend of five and a half years.

Reyna, 37, was in good spirits and, though work had been hectic lately, seemed in good health. The two had even started playing weekend basketball again.

Before dawn the next day, however, Reyna -- father of four -- had suffered a major heart attack and was airlifted to Herman Memorial Hospital in Houston where he underwent surgery for an aneurysm that left him in a coma. Two days later, he emerged from that coma only to suffer another major heart attack and stroke that left him comatose and in a vegetative state from which doctors had little hope he would recover.

"It's like everything is fine one day and the next you realize you may lose your best friend," said Reed. "It's been really hard, he's like a brother and we've always had each other's backs. I even caught myself referring to him in the past tense because, it was like he was gone. I guess it's part of trying to get some acceptance around it."

A special fund was established through Gulf Freeway Rent-n-Roll's parent company, Texas Iowa Group -- which owns six Rent-n-Roll stores -- to assist Reyna's wife, Rosie, and four children: Kamilla, two, Karla, four, Faye, nine and Alex, 12.

John Spangle, owner of Texas Iowa Group, opened up the drive to include his five Partner's Rental Purchase stores. Employees were making donations via automatic payroll deductions and in-store contributions were accepted from customers. A call went out to the RNR franchise network and dealers across the country responded. Though the outlook was grim, the instinct to help the family left in the wake was powerful.

"We're a family and we take care of each other," Spangle said.

But the emotional roller coaster ride was not yet over.

After two and a half months, with no evidence of brain function and on the advice of doctors, the Reyna family elected to have Carlos' breathing tube and life support system removed if his condition had not improved by Feb. 12.

On Jan. 24, Reyna opened his eyes.

"I don't know about you but I believe this is a miracle and for those of you who have prayed, an answer to prayer," said Larry Sutton, CEO of Rent-n-Roll who has worked with Reyna many times in company trainings. "This in no way reduces the needs of this family. In fact it has most likely increased the need."

By all accounts, Carlos still has a long and difficult climb ahead. The immediate plans are to remove the breathing tube for a couple hours a night until he can breathe on his own. He has to re-learn many basic functions such as eating on his own. He will be transferred to a rehabilitation/nursing facility which will assess his needs and develop a rehabilitation plan. The costs of this kind of treatment will be substantial.

Matthew Wilt, regional manager for Texas Iowa Group who has been with the company for four years, said some company-wide fundraisers are in the works and that every little bit helps as Reyna and his family move into a very protracted rehabilitation phase.

"Carlos is the one person I know who I can honestly say has no enemies," Wilt said. "He's our longest tenured employee and he and Robert are consistently at the top of the list as top performers. The staff loves him and the customers love him. Even though Robert (Reed) has essentially taken over his position as store manager, I'm sure he only thinks of it as temporary, like 'I'm just holding down the fort until Carlos gets back.' This is a real family-first company and I've always known that and this is just further proof."

To donate to the Carlos Reyna Family, make checks payable to Sovoni, Inc. -- a temporary fund set up for the drive -- and write Carlos Reyna Fund in the memo. Mail to:

Or call Larry Sutton at 813/978-0584. Email here lsutton@rnrwheels.com.