The world can be a daunting place for a child who is blind but a six-year-old recently had a pleasant experience with a hero at the Plant City Fire Rescue Station #3 in Florida.
Junie was visiting the station with fellow homeschool students where they toured the facilities and were allowed to get close to the fire trucks, Fox 13 reported Thursday.
“His favorite part was spending time with this patient firefighter who allowed Junie to feel all over his uniform and gear, touch whatever he wanted, hear the sounds his equipment made, and answered all of his questions,” his mother, Destiny Fiaschetti, wrote in a social media post.
Video footage showed the firefighter kneeling on the concrete floor as the boy took his time feeling the equipment strapped all over him:
A mom captured a video of her visually impaired son getting the chance to "see" a firefighter by feeling the equipment and uniform with his hands."His favorite part was spending time with this patient fire fighter who allowed Junie to feel all over his uniform and gear, touch whatever he wanted, hear the sounds his equipment made, and answered all of his questions!" the mother wrote in part on Facebook.https://news4sanantonio.com/
Posted by News 4 San Antonio on Saturday, September 24, 2022
At one point, Junie reached up and tapped a small black box on the firefighter’s shoulder. “What is this?” the boy asked.
“This is my microphone,” the first responder told him. Moments later, Junie went behind the firefighter and touched the oxygen tank on his back.
The firefighter guided the little boy’s hand onto the device and told him it was there to help him breathe.
According to Fiaschetti, the child loved every minute of the experience, saying, “He keeps re-enacting what he learned, pretending he’s asleep and then getting the call from dispatch and jumping up running to the truck and putting the gear on.”
6-year-old Junie, who was born blind, never knew what a firefighter looked like, but that changed during a visit to a Plant City fire station. Using his hands to see, he felt all over a firefighter's uniform & gear, from his mask to his oxygen tank. Watch: https://t.co/hflwQ8cgtv
— FOX 13 Tampa Bay (@FOX13News) September 22, 2022
Junie has septo-optic dysplasia which is a disorder affecting a person’s early brain development, per Medline Plus.
Because of this, Junie is totally blind. However, that did not keep him from learning everything he could in his own special way.
“Knowing what firefighter uniforms and gear feels like, and the purpose it serves, can help visually impaired children be prepared for any possible emergency,” Plant City officials told the outlet.
Social media users were emotional over the clip, one person writing, “I’m crying. Thank you Sr [sic] for letting this little angel of a boy seeing you with his hands. God bless you. You have a heart of gold.”
“Absolutely love this. He was so interested in it & what a wonderful experience for this little guy,” another person commented.
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