For all his struggles to live a normal life despite his paralysis from a childhood vaccine, in the end, Norris Walton was struck down by a random bullet.

While making his way home on January 7, 2009, Walton got caught at Apache Street and Cincinnati Avenue between a driveby gunman and his intended target, police said Walton, an innocent passerby, suffered a fatal wound to the chest.

Neighbors who had seen Walton, 54, coming and going in his wheelchair knew the quiet, good-natured man as "Puddin." Now they, like his family, are mourning his loss.

But few people probably knew Walton's story and how much he had overcome.

Walton was 12 years old when the children of his time were told that they had to be vaccinated for polio before they entered school, said his brother, Calvin Osbourne of Washington, D.C.

Walton and five of his siblings went to a Tulsa County clinic to get the vaccine. But, being afraid of needles, Walton instead took the vaccine orally in a sugar cube, Osbourne said.

"He had an adverse reaction, and it paralyzed him in about 12 to 15 hours. He was paralyzed from the waist down. Doctors said that he would never walk," Osbourne said.

"In the future, he would prove them all wrong with his personal will, but he never did have very strong legs."

"Walton had to wear braces and use crutches, but over time his legs got a little stronger. After a while he was able to throw his crutches away and walk."

"His will was so strong. He wanted to walk without the crutches, and we just could not stop him. He fell quite frequently...every few steps. He would fall down to his fingertips and just push himself right back up," Osbourne said. "He just wanted to be like the other teenagers."

Walton graduated from Central High School, his brother said. He never married and never had children.

He attended classes at Tulsa Junior College before his family moved from Tulsa to the Phoenix, Arizona area. He worked for some time at American Express in Scottsdale, Arizona. The family moved back to Tulsa in 1983.

As he grew older, his condition worsened. His legs couldn't support his body weight, so he could no longer walk. His spinal cord was severly curved, and the pain in his back reached the point that he had to have surgery, Osbourne said.

"The gravity of all that had taken place in his life--the difficulty of all he had encountered over the years---weighed on him. He had always just tried to be a normal person," Osbourne said. "Finally, he applied for disability benefits."

Walton lived with his mothere and one of his brothers, who is epileptic and requires care. When his mother died in September at age 83, Walton took over caring for his brother.

"Mom always wanted them to be able to stay in the house where they grew up. Family members would check on them every day, and they got Meals on Wheels," Osbourne said.

"The first thing he will remember about Walton is his heart," Osbourne said. "He was a very good person and a very good brother. He frequently called me on the east coast, and I really appreciated that about him."

"The second thing I will remember is his head. He had a will about him to do what he wanted to do and live the way he wanted to live and make as much of his life as he did."

Walton always insisted on using a manual wheelchair, although his family offered several times to buy him an electric model.

"That is reflective of him," Osbourne said. "He said, 'With an electric chair, you don't have to do a thing. I don't have a problem pushing myself.'"

Two men have been charged with Walton's death. Amos O. Adetula, 19, has been arrested, and police are continuing to search for Derek Lamar Thomas, 24.

Osbourne said his brother died from senseless, random violence.

"It's a shame that a person whose life has been as difficult as Puddin's---someone who has struggled so long to fit into his community---would have his life snuffed out in this way."

This memorial taken from the Tulsa World newspaper as written by Nicole Marshall, staff reporter.