Guest post from a fellow firefighter fan

This guest post is from Gianna W., an awesome girl with cerebral palsy who, like Max, hopes to be a firefighter when she grows up and regularly hangs at her local fire station. Gianna blogs at Friends of Gianna. Fireman Max thinks she is very cool.

 

I'm Gianna W, a firefighter, blogger, and a survivor for many of my battles. When I was little, I had many medical issues.

I was born a preemie. I spent my first 4 years having one medical challenge after another which brought on many hospital visits.

I have cerebral palsy, GI issues, blood circulation issues, learning issues, and the list goes on. I do online school, because my mom says I'm medically home-bound. I'm in the 7th grade. I love drawing, PE and writing long stories.

I got interested in being a firefighter in 2013. In the summer months of 2013, I had lots of seizures again, and two fire departments took care of me back and forth. I visited them when I was seizure-free, got a few of their shirts and a picture with the crew. I then got a tour of their station, and I fell in love!

Being a firefighter is cool. I was able to have a 4-5 hour firetruck ride, get my own turnout—protective wear of the body and legs—that has all my firehouse brothers and sisters names on it, and make lots of friends. Trust me, the pants and turnout feel like 200 pounds. It takes a while to get used to.

In my free time I study my radio codes, ambulance codes, and assessments. For example, 10-4 means Message Received, and 10-13 means Trooper Down. In my other spare time I squish my dog, dress him up with my fire station shirts and pretend to do surgery on him with non-rebreather mask and my real medical supplies.

I believe children like me with CP and other disabilities can be firefighters because they can learn social skills, make friends, be in some action, join the "brotherhood/sisterhood" and they could maybe save one of their family members lives one day.