Over the past two years, the Athens Fire Department helped Donald Norman and his son with more than just emergency services.
Two years ago, the department received its first call from the family. Firefighters were dispatched to the 200 block of Sharp Road to assist Norman – an unresponsive diabetic. Upon arrival, they realized Norman was a single father to a son with autism, according to a news release from the city of Athens.
As time passed, calls from the family to the Fire Department became more frequent. Sometimes, there would be two or three per week. The firefighters began to notice Norman and his son were in need, according to the news release.
“The cupboards were bare, and they weren’t getting good, hot meals because maybe they weren’t able to,” Fire Chief Brandon Ainsworth said in an interview.
After recognizing the family’s needs, the department began to take extra steps to help Norman and his son. Firefighters shopped for groceries and cooked meals for them. Some crews even made and delivered breakfast to the pair at the beginning of their shifts, according to the news release.
Even the families of the firefighters got involved. Some of the staff’s spouses helped by cleaning the house, and others mowed the lawn, Ainsworth said.
“To find out the extra steps that my staff was taking was just absolutely phenomenal,” Ainsworth said. “I couldn’t be more proud to work with such a fine group of people.”
But on July 13, the department received another call to the home on Sharp Road.
One of Norman’s neighbors was asked to check on the pair. After knocking on the door, Norman’s 13-year-old son answered and let the neighbor inside. Then, the neighbor contacted emergency services, according to the incident report from the Athens Police Department.
When firefighters arrived at the house, they discovered 51-year-old Norman had died around two days before, according to the report.
After consulting with the Police Department, they brought Norman’s son back to the fire station, where they cleaned, fed and cared for him. Two off-duty firefighters even came to take care of Norman’s son on their downtime so that the other firefighters could continue to provide service to the community, according to the news release.
They stayed with the son for approximately four hours before the Department of Children’s Services arrived. The son was placed in state custody for the night, according to the police report.
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Situations like those are why the Fire Department created a first responder program around three years ago, according to Ainsworth.
The program allows firefighters to be trained to handle both fires and medical emergencies. After taking classes and an academic written test, firefighters can be licensed as an emergency medical responder, according to Deputy Fire Chief Tim Schultz.
“This is why we do medical first response, so that we’re there for the families in their time of need,” Ainsworth said. “This routine medical call turned into a situation where they kind of became part of our family.”
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Members of the team will continue to pray for Norman’s son as well as the staff that became close to the family over the years, Ainsworth said.