steering wheel problem on 99 venture

I guess it could happen to any year but my 99 venture van has had the steering wheel bent. It was used by an elderly relative as a handle of sorts and over time, it has become very woobly. There is actually a tear on one side of the steering wheel and the other side is soon to follow. The entire top half of the steering wheel can be bent back almost to the dash. I can not figure out how to fix this problem or if I am going to have to replace the steering wheel which of course would involve the air bag. Does anyone have any idea how I should approach this problem? Thanks all.

The steering wheels on these vans are weak to begin with. One day I broke mine at the 10:00 position. Cut it clear in 1/2. The only fix is to replace the steering wheel. Make sure you disable the air bag before you attempt to do this job.