They Just Keep Rolling Along

There are some regulars and chronic 9-1-1 abusers that you just hate rolling on and there are others who you just kind of sigh, shrug, and do whatever you can to help. It's amazing and sad to see these people year after year surviving things you imagine would kill most people. Some you watch just deteriorate over the years but somehow keep hanging on.

One guy in particular, I've been running calls on for just about my entire ten years in the department. He has been homeless most of that time. He started out riding a bicycle around town and now he's in a wheelchair having lost parts of his feet to frostbite and gangrene. He has been, alternately, a source of amusement, a real pain in the ass, and a real filthy mess. It all depends on how intoxicated he is and where he's been living for the last week or so.

(Yeah, that's about right. No joke either.)

But, he absolutely loves the fire department and routinely comments on how we have saved his life numerous times. He always gives us a big thumbs up and a smile whenever we see him. I don't know if there is some kind of reverse Stockholm Syndrome thing at work here, but we seem to go above and beyond the call of duty for this guy on a regular basis.

Today we were called out in the pouring rain for him again. It turns out all he needed was a broken wheel on his wheelchair fixed - and called 9-1-1 for it. We could have lectured him on that and gone back to the station. Instead, we grabbed some tools and sat down on the sidewalk in the pouring rain and reassembled his wheelchair for him. That's one of the things I do love about my department, that willingness to go above and beyond without hesitation. I know a few cities in the area that would treat this guy horribly and blow him off unless he was in true crisis. But, not us. It might be a nasty job, and usually is, but we are going to do right by our citizens - whoever they are. And that makes me proud.