After news reports about 6-year-old Jaquez McKinze's crippling injury and the Chattanooga police officer who befriended him, donations and support poured in for the boy and his mom.
But what Jaquez needed most -- a wheelchair -- was tied up in insurance red tape. That left Kaynesha Steward with one option -- to carry around her son, who in June was hit by a truck while crossing the street to get ice cream.
Jaquez, who suffered a broken leg, fractured collarbone, fractured pelvis, punctured lung and scars, cannot walk and is just now beginning to say the word "Mom."
"She has been carrying this little boy around in her arms like a sack of potatoes," said Investigator Phil Grubb, president of the International Brotherhood of Police Officers Local 673 in Chattanooga.
So the police union decided to help the family get a wheelchair and continue the support shown the family by officers.
Officer Josh Wright was about a block and a half away from 300 Willow St. when he received a call about a 6-year-old boy struck by a truck. He was the first officer on the scene and the last person Jaquez saw and heard before slipping into a coma.
The police officer kept in touch with the family, bringing Ms. Steward supplies and visiting Jaquez in the hospital. He promised the boy that, if he emerged from his coma, Jaquez could be his partner, wear a badge and ride in his patrol car.
"He's got a new uncle with me," Officer Wright said. "I've told (his mom) if she takes him out of the state (for good), she's going to have issues. He's my little guy."
Last month, Officer Wright made good on his promise. But he and the police union found out that insurance troubles kept the family from getting a wheelchair quickly.
Officers thought they simply would purchase a wheelchair for Jaquez or rent one until insurance kicked in. It wasn't that easy. Wheelchairs are made specifically for individual patients, meaning police had to find a company to make one for him.
After enough phone calls, Investigator Grubb got in touch with Gregg Rogers at Holland Medical Supplies on Dodds Avenue. Mr. Rogers had two wheelchairs, including one that looked brand-new.
Ms. Steward brought Jaquez in and placed him in the wheelchair.
"And it's a miracle that this one chair fits perfectly," Investigator Grubb recalled.
The company loaned the chair to Jaquez free of charge until insurance provides one.
Mr. Rogers had heard about Jaquez through news reports and wouldn't let officers pay for the chair, especially after seeing several officers fill the business' lobby. He said he'll help Jaquez, his mom and the officers learn how to use the wheelchair when the boy receives his permanent one.
"You get those certain patients and you just never forget about them," Mr. Rogers said.
The kindness didn't stop there. Upon learning that Jaquez was a huge football and basketball fan, officers coordinated his appearance at a University of Tennessee at Chattanooga football game Saturday and a basketball game in early December.
"He's stuck with me," Officer Wright said.
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