A Wheelchair For John: Howard County Firefighters Say 8-Year-Old 'Is Now Our Family'

John’s mother, Robin, stood in a room of firefighters, thanking them for an event three months prior. She didn’t yet realize it, but she would soon be thanking them again.

Three months earlier, John – an 8-year-old boy with Duchenne muscular dystrophy – had joined the Howard County Department of Fire and Rescue at a football tournament in Elkridge that not only pitted various police and fire departments against each other, but also served as a charity fundraiser.

Every year, the tournament benefits the Howard Heroes Fund, which provides for “career firefighters or their families who have experienced catastrophic injury or death in the line of duty, death through common accident or sickness, the significant illness of the firefighter or a member of his/her family, or a significant catastrophic loss,” according to the fund’s website.

November’s tournament also benefited another charity: the Muscular Dystrophy Association, for which $3,900 was raised.

On that November day, the Howard County firefighters brought John off the sidelines and into the game to play a down. And this past Sunday in Columbia, the firefighters brought John and his family in for dinner – and a surprise:

A new wheelchair, one that is lightweight and foldable and more suited for a boy his age.

“He had a chair at the tournament that we saw he was getting around with – it looked very heavy,” said Clayton Belle, one of the many Howard County firefighters who organized the wheelchair donation. “It just looked like more of an adult chair. It didn’t look like something modern.

John, who lives with his family in Hanover, Pa., has an aunt, Michelle Click, who works for the Howard County fire department. Family members asked for his last name not to be used in this story.

“We had a profound experience with him at the football tournament,” Belle said. “It [playing] may seem like a small thing for most of us able-bodied individuals, but it’s pure joy for John every time.”

“We just wanted to get across to him that just like his aunt is his family, we’re her family and he is now our family. That’s basically how the fire department is – we’re all one big family.”

Duchenne muscular dystrophy is “a rapidly worsening form of muscular dystrophy. Other muscular dystrophies get worse much more slowly,” according to the University of Maryland Medical Center. Those diagnosed with Duchenne rarely live beyond their early 30s, according to the Muscular Dystrophy Association.

“His muscles don’t do what they’re supposed to do as he grows,” Belle said. That, in turn, affects “his ability to be an 8-year-old, to run. He’s only able to walk around for short moments at a time. His wheelchair is his support for when he can’t go anymore.”

Firefighters raised money for the new, $493 wheelchair through a raffle – and the winner of the raffle, in turn, donated half of his winnings back, according to Belle. Including an anonymous donation, more than $2,700 was donated to go toward John and his family, Belle said.

Along with the wheelchair, John also received a television set/DVD player, a video game system, video games and DVDs.

John’s mother, Robin, stood in a room full of firefighters.

“The football game was more than enough,” she said, looking at the wheelchair.

“This,” she said, her words caught up in emotion. “That’s going to help.”