9-Year-Old Surprised By First Responders Who Rescued Him After Crash
CASTLE ROCK, Colo. (CBS4)- A Castle Rock family held a special celebration on Friday night for the community that has carried them through a life changing accident.
It happened last December and left 9-year-old Jace Garcia paralyzed from the waist down.
"My sister was driving me to basketball practice and hit gravel and she went into the other lane," Garcia explained. "I didn't remember any of it."
Since leaving the hospital, Garcia and the rest of his family have been adjusting to life in a wheelchair.
"Getting in and out of a car, you know having the wheelchair close enough so he can get it in because those are his legs," Step dad Johnathan Tews said.
The family reached out to The Home Builder's Foundation, whose mission is to build independence, provide opportunities and elevate lives for individuals and families with disabilities in the community. They teamed up with KB Homes, and renovated Garcia's house.
"It's all about community," said Beth Forbes, with Home Builders Foundation. "To see it come full circle and see the relief this family is now facing is so important."
The two companies teamed up to provide thousands of dollars' worth of renovations to the home. It included widening doors, building a new ramp and installing hardwood floors to make sure Garcia can get around.
Friday night the family held a special celebration, thanking everyone who made the changes possible and recognizing the first responders who rushed to the accident.
A surprise to Garcia, "I didn't see that coming."
The firefighters and paramedics that responded to his accident showed up to the party in their emergency vehicles lights and sirens blaring.
Darth Vader and a Storm Trooper got out, along with those firefighters who the family calls their super heroes.
"They're really brave and generous," Garcia said. "If it wasn't for them I wouldn't have had this party or anything."
Months later, Lt. Jay Allen and paramedic Joe Lowery, along with the rest of their crew from Castle Rock Station 153 remember the call.
""Everybody that was there, the initial crew we all have kids roughly around that age as a parent everything changes," Lowery said.
Allen and Lowery and the rest of those first responders kept in touch with the family for months, showing up to the celebration was their second visit with chase. Making it clear they did not just save his life they never stopped caring.
"We're trained to do a job and we love it and the bell goes off and we respond to that call and we do what we can to help them," Allen said.
Karen Morfitt joined the CBS4 team as a reporter in 2013. She covers a variety of stories in and around the Denver metro area. Connect with her on Facebook, follow her on Twitter @karenmorfitt or email her tips.
