Eyes that see the good in things: The big strong fireman

Teresa Risovi has been spending more time than usual at the New Rockford-Sheyenne school these days, going every two hours to help her son Lincoln. You see, shortly before his sixth birthday, Lincoln had an accident on his bike, leaving him with a bone break and postponing his sixth birthday party.

His injury also started his parents, Teresa and Jeremy Risovi down the dealing with a child’s special needs. Initially, Lincoln was in a great deal of pain. Teresa said that she cried along with him and felt helpless as her gestures of comfort only seemed to cause him more pain.

Since the accident left him in a cast and unable to put weight on his leg, Lincoln was confined to a wheelchair as he started kindergarten. That left Lincoln’s parents and the school administration scrambling to make his return to school successful. It was necessary to find a way to transport Lincoln to and from school, thankfully the transit bus solved that problem. With the van able to accommodate his wheelchair, Lincoln traveled to and from school on the bus every day.

As roadblocks came up, it made Teresa realize how much of our world is not handicap accessible. The cafeteria was difficult to navigate in a wheelchair, there was only one handicap accessible bathroom in the school and Lincoln wasn’t able to get into the outbuilding for music classes. To accommodate Lincoln’s needs, Teresa visited to the school every two hours, and a new ramp was purchased to make the elementary music room accessible.

Throughout the experience, Teresa remained grateful. Grateful that the doctors said Lincoln didn’t need surgery and grateful to be working from home and able to be there when her son needed her. She realizes that, in a lot of cases, that would not possible for a working parent. Grateful that even on his bad days, Lincoln’s spirit was not dimmed, and he retained his positive attitude. She’s grateful for the visits, texts and messages from others that kept them all going.

Her frequent visits to the school left her exhausted at times, yet she knew that she wasn’t alone. A paraprofessional met Lincoln at the bus in the morning to help him get to his room, his teacher was great in working with him, and Elementary School Principle Mrs. Becker worked hard in making sure accommodation met Lincoln’s needs.

Lincoln’s accident gave the family more awareness about the fact that there are kids who need special accommodations, just to get to school. Lincoln’s situation was temporary, so they always had that light at the end of the tunnel. Yes, the schedule was exhausting, but they knew that the ordeal would have an ending. Yet they received help along the way, from encouraging comments to the motivational messages that line the hallways of NR-S.

One day Teresa noticed sticky notes all over the school-- little brightly colored pieces of paper stuck to the walls. As they walked down the hall, she realized how much she needed to hear some of the messages and realized that Lincoln needed to hear them too. They read each message as they got to them, messages like “You Matter!” and “Dream Big!” Underneath a row of pictures of graduating seniors was a sticky note that said, “They did it and so can you!”

It was a Facebook post that alerted us to this story that has so much goodness running through it. Lincoln’s kindergarten class was scheduled to tour the fire hall and the class was so excited. Lincoln was a little excited too, but mostly he was apprehensive. He told his mom that he knew the other kids would be able to run and climb on the fire engines, but he expected he would have to just watch from his wheelchair.  

Teresa knew how much extra it was just to take Lincoln on the field trip. His teacher was making special arrangements to make sure that Lincoln was able to attend. Since they would be going on a bus that did not accommodate wheelchairs, there would need to be someone to pick him up and carry him onto the bus.

Once they got there, Lincoln had the best time ever! When he got home from school, he told his mom about the “big strong fireman” who came and picked him up, carried him to all the trucks and even let him sit in the monster truck fire truck. Lincoln told his mom it was awesome, and the smile on his face was one she hadn’t seen in a long time.

Teresa didn’t know right away who that big, strong fireman was, but the next day she sent a text to New Rockford Fire Chief, Todd Allmaras, that said, “I’m not sure who was working today when the kids came for a tour, but please pass along a huge thank you from me. Lincoln was not excited about going to the fire hall, because he thought he would just be stuck watching everyone. However, he had the biggest smile, a smile I have missed seeing. He was thrilled to tell me the big, strong fireman picked him up, carried him around and he got to sit in every truck. He was so thrilled. Thank you to the man who carried my baby today. He touched my son more than he could ever know.”

She also made a post on Facebook, which read, “Thank you to the New Rockford fire department for being great! Thank you for teaching our children fire safety but mostly thank you for making my son feel so amazingly special in a good way! A very special thank you to Brian Hopfauf for being the ‘big strong fireman’ who carried my son around and made his day so special.”

Since that visit to the fire hall on Oct. 9, things have been happening fast for Lincoln. He is now out of his cast. However, his leg was weak, and it took some time for him to be able to walk again on his own again. He started physical therapy and worked hard on his strengthening exercises.

Then came the day when they celebrated the day they sent the wheelchair back to Fargo.

There were still a few rough patches as he traveled the halls with his scooter, but they also celebrated the day that Lincoln took his first three steps without assistance. It wasn’t long before Lincoln was walking again. Teresa says the journey isn’t over, but they’re getting close and they’ve all learned how important it is to be there for each other when they need it.

It really does take a village to raise a child. Just in this one child’s two-month ordeal, his village included his parents and their families, friends, medical professionals, school administrators and staff, and people from the community who stepped up to make life as easy and as good as it could get.

Lincoln’s words put it best, “Mama, I can walk again! I’m just like all the other kids!” and later, “Take a picture, it’s the best day ever!” But I think he has another best day ahead of him because his birthday pinata is still waiting.

We would love to share local stories about the good things your eyes are seeing.

Stop in to share your stories with us, give us a call at 947-2417 or e-mail us at [email protected]. Or send a letter to Eyes That See the Good in Things, c/o Allison Lindgren, The Transcript, 6 8th St N., New Rockford, ND 58356.