A group of Oklahoma City firefighters took it upon themselves to solve a unique problem for neighbors of the firehouse.
Bri Johnson, 10, was diagnosed as a toddler with spinal muscular atrophy, caused by a deficiency of a motor neuron protein.
"It's the gene that helps you walk, and since I don't have that, I can't walk," she said.
Her grandparents had recently installed an underground storm shelter in their northwest Oklahoma City home, but a call to the manufacturer yielded no suggestions on how to get the girl from the wheelchair into it.
During previous storms, she had been carried down the metal steps into the concrete bunker. But as the girl grows, her grandparents age. They needed a better solution.
Just around the corner is Fire Station 37, 16820 N Pennsylvania Ave., so they went to ask the firefighters for ideas. The firefighters on shift devised a solution and scheduled a visit to their home.
"Last Tuesday, when the storms were coming in, Bri and her family came by the fire station and were looking for a way to get her into the storm shelter," Lt. John Akright said. "We discussed it at the fire station, a way we could do it, and then we just ran with it. We made contact with the family the next day, came out that Friday, and we installed a winch in the attic that is attached to the structure of the house. And the cable comes down through the ceiling, the remote control comes down through the ceiling and then we've got a harness."