The Daily Herald has an article about the Mount Prospect Fire Department working with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to
A special present from the Make-A-Wish Foundation — an adaptive bike — arrived Friday afternoon at the Mount Prospect home of 11-year-old Zachary Jakubowski, who has a rare and severe form of epilepsy. But the foundation made the wish even sweeter by having Mount Prospect Fire Chief John Malcolm and Mount Prospect firefighters arrive at his home … to give Zachary a ride around the neighborhood in a fire truck.
For the Lincoln Junior High School student, who is obsessed with firefighters, it was the ride of a lifetime. “This is his wish. He has always wanted to be a fireman,” his father, Eric Jakubowski, said. “His favorite thing to do is (watching) ‘Chicago Fire.’ He knows them all by heart.”
“I hear you’re going to be a fireman,” Malcolm said to Zachary. “I’ve got a ride for you. Want to go for a ride?” He handed Zachary a Mount Prospect fire chief’s helmet and a T-shirt commemorating the 100th anniversary of the Mount Prospect fire service.
“This is tremendous. I had tears in my eyes when I saw the fire brigade coming down the street, said Zachary’s mother, Joni Beaudry. “He has always loved fire trucks, so we thought that would be great.”
Zachary’s adaptive bike will be decked out like a fire engine.
“It looks like a large tricycle, but it’s large enough that my husband and I will ride, and he will ride in front,” Joni Beaudry said. “Now we can go back on family bike rides. We couldn’t do that for a while, because there is no way to take him on a longer bike ride.”
Malcolm said the department was honored to be a part of fulfilling Zachary’s wish. “When they called us initially to come out and support it, I said, ‘Absolutely.’ They just wanted a T-shirt. I said, ‘We’ll do more than that. We’ll bring the fire department out,'” Malcolm said. The smile on his face — what a great feeling.”
thanks Chris
