Two weeks of being out of school finally will be over for 19-year-old Karnisha Norman on Monday, thanks to a group of firefighters who built a handicap ramp at her house Saturday.
The disabled Brainerd High School senior, who was born with cerebral palsy and hydrocephalus, recently moved to a home not equipped with a ramp, making it nearly impossible for her motorized wheelchair to come in and out of the house, said her mother, Kandace Sandford. The ramp Ms. Sandford had built at her previous home cost about $400, and she said she just couldn’t afford to have another one built.
That’s when members of the Chattanooga Fire Department, the Fraternal Order of Firefighters and the Candlelighters Family Support Group stepped in to help Ms. Sandford and her daughter.
“We’ve always helped the people that need to be helped,” said Wayne Walker, a retired Chattanooga firefighter who helped pull together a crew for the job. “When some people need help, we just help them.”
Capt. Rusty Rymer with the Chattanooga Fire Department said the volunteers used their own money to build the ramp. He said over the years members of Local 820 have built several of these types of ramps, as well as wheelchair carriers for cars.
“We normally kind of do these things under the radar, so to speak,” he said.
Jane Kaylor, president of the local Candlelighters chapter, said that when she found out about the family’s situation, she knew Mr. Walker and other local firefighters would want to help.
“We get calls like this all the time about different things,” said Ms. Kaylor, who also is the executive director of the local Ronald McDonald House. “People understand that we help people, and that’s all that matters.”