Firefighters are doing what they can to help a little boy who dealt with a tragic ordeal. Jeremiah Mitchell lost all of his limbs in 2010, to meningitis. Since then the family has had challenges from medical treatments to simple chores some take for granted.
Newschannel 8s' Kim Jackson shows how firefighters are making a difference.
Firefighters will spend the next few days measuring, hammering and building four wheelchair ramps and doing it all for one little boy.
When Jeremiah steps out of his van--he gets around. But his mother has to carry him through the doors. Still, it's progress she never expected.
"A lot further than I ever thought possible. I mean, after everything, I just, I didn't know how things were going to be but I never thought it would be like this at all," she said.
Jeremiah wears stubbies--prosthetic legs. And you can see the physical scars meningitis left behind. And he talks about his day at school.
"Math and then I had to leave in the middle of the day," he explained to reporters.
he did math.and had to leave in the middle of the day.
he came for us and to see what his firefighting friends from burn camp are doing at his house.
"The main thing I saw was that Jeremiah had no access to get into his house. He's got a mechanical wheelchair, a very expensive wheelchair and he had no ability to get it into his house," said Captain Scotty Stokes.
So several firefighters brought their contracting skills--and tools.
"It feels good. We just want Jeremiah to be taken care of and he's in all of our hearts. The situation he went thru, we just want to make it a little bit better for him," said Stokes.
Soon, he may be able to ride his chair into the house. The ramps will give him more independence. But his mom says he still has lessons to learn, about his motorized wheelchair.
"You better slow down coming out of that garage!"
Firefighters donated their time. But Lowe's, American Waste and Heroes on the Diamond took care of services and materials.
