• Community members rally together for special young man
By Sarah Steele Wilson
Mar 16, 2011, 12:26
Photo by Sarah Steele Wilson/Lucas Spicely and his grandmother, Renate Harris, watch their new concrete pad being installed.
HOPEWELL — Lucas Spicely is just like most three year old children; rambunctious and lively with an infectious smile and winning personality. He’s just like most children, except for one thing.
He can’t walk or sit without a gate trainer or walker.
Lucas’s mother, Kim Spicely, said she started to notice something was different about her son when he was about six months old. Two pediatricians and a slew of tests, including cat scans and spinal taps later, it’s still a mystery what exactly is wrong.
“Every test they’ve done comes back normal,” said Kim Spicely. “He’s really smart. It’s just that his physical doesn’t always do what he wants it to do.”
The doctors gave the family a working diagnosis of cerebral palsy, since that matches Lucas’s symptoms closely. He takes a muscle relaxer every day and receives speech and occupational therapy at a special needs pre-school every day and once a week at the Children’s Hospital of Virginia Therapy Center in Petersburg. Lucas’s parents say he’s progressed a lot since he began therapy, and are concerned about what will happen when their insurance stops covering his therapy and they have to start paying $120 per visit.
“It’s an excellent place. He loves to go there and loves all the therapists who work with him,” Kim Spicely said.
When Case Handyman and Remodeling franchise owner Bart Burgwyn first met Lucas about a year ago while doing some work for the boy’s grandparents, Kenneth and Renate Harris, he was charmed and touched by his story.
“This kills me. It makes me melt,” Burgwyn said looking at a picture of Lucas in his gate trainer.
Since their first meeting, Burgwyn has done some paid work to help make Lucas’s life easier, like raising the living room floor in his house so he could roll into the room without having to go down a step.
“He’s really passionate about helping Lucas,” grandmother Renate Harris said of Burgwyn. “There are a lot of caring people out there.”
A few months ago, Burgwyn noticed a wheel chair lift sitting out front of a house he drove past.
“I got to thinking about Lucas and his need, so I knocked on the door, and lo and behold, there were fabulous people who were willing to donate this thing,” he said.
Those fabulous people, who wished to remain anonymous, made a $12,000 gift by donating the lift to help Lucas.
“That got the ball rolling,” Burgwyn said of the donation, which has blossomed into a collaborative project between Case Handyman, Jackson Concrete, and TCS Materials, a Vulcan Materials company.
“My wife and I have made a decision that we want to help someone this year. That’s who we’re going to help,” Burgwyn said, once again looking at a picture of Lucas.
That help is coming in the form of a paved pad on the Spicely’s driveway, where the donated lift, which grandfather Kenneth Harris is working on to fix a few problems, can be installed and Lucas can get rolling.
“He likes to go outside in his walker. I’d feel more comfortable if he was closer outside, rather than running down the street,” said Kim Spicely, who occasionally takes her son to the mall so he can roll around on a smooth surface.
One thing Lucas likes about going to his grandparents house is the paved driveway.
“He’s so happy just to be able to roll on that concrete,” said Renate Harris.
“In his gate trainer, he can go anywhere he want to,” added grandfather Kenneth Harris.
Even though the economic downturn has been hard for contractors, Burgwyn was determined to make the project happen and was able to find others willing to help.
“All of us in the construction business are suffering badly. This is a terrible time to do it, but you pull your boot straps up and make it happen,” he said.
One of the other people working to make it happen is Burgwyn’s subcontractor Richard Jackson, who owns Jackson Concrete. He first met Lucas about six months ago while measuring the driveway for the project.
“I wish I could do more,” he said. “I really wanted to do something after seeing the little guy. If they ask me to do more, I’ll do more.”
Jackson said he and his employees were donating about $2,000 worth of labor to lay down the concrete, which was a donation from TCS Materials, part of Vulcan Materials.
Sam Britt, III, is an employee of Burgwyn’s. Britt’s father, Sam Britt, Jr., works for Vulcan and the two worked together with Area Manager Charlie Wodehouse to get the donation.
“You look at that little boy and you know it’s definitely worth it,” Wodehouse said of the $600 concrete donation.
Although it won’t fix everything, the lift and concrete pad will give Lucas’s family an easier way to get him in and out of the house and provide a spot where he can move around in his gate trainer and strengthen his legs.
“You can’t believe how difficult it is to get him around,” said Renate Harris, watching the concrete mixer pour onto the gravel driveway on Tuesday.
“You get so frustrated, you don’t know what to do anymore and then, boom, something happens. It’s wonderful.”
