HARRISBURG, Pa. — Samuel Randolph's days are filled with constant pain.
"I'm existing, but I'm really not living my full life," Randolph said.
Randolph was convicted in the shooting deaths of two men at a Harrisburg bar back in 2001, a crime he says he didn't commit. He was sentenced to capital punishment and spent more than two decades on death row in solitary confinement.
He says an attack in 2009 left him paralyzed from the waist down.
"I was assaulted on my way to the yard by three correctional officers. I was handcuffed behind my back and defenseless," he said. "Three of them assaulted me. When they picked me up and slammed me to the ground, two of them fell on my spine and my legs and I haven't walked since."
Randolph said he spent the rest of his time in prison locked in his cell, barely able to move.
"Guilty or innocent, nobody deserves to be treated like this," said Dena Jangdhari of the Pennsylvania Prison Society.
"They just put me through pure torture that I wouldn't want to see anybody endure or have to go through," Randolph added.
In 2020, a U.S. district judge overturned Randolph's conviction, finding the judge who presided over his trial violated Randolph's right to choose his attorney.
Randolph was released from prison in April 2022, after the U.S. Supreme Court declined to review the case. Dauphin County District Attorney Fran Chardo dismissed the charges, noting two officers involved in the case had since died and a key witness would not testify.
Randolph has his freedom but wants his life back. A California surgeon has agreed to help for free, but Randolph says he needs $100,000 for medical transportation and physical therapy.
"This man deserves a chance to walk, to play with his grandbaby, to be able to stand up and hug his son," Jangdhari said.
So far, 500 people have contributed close to $30,000 to help cover Randolph's medical expenses.