Firefighters have one of the toughest jobs in the world, yet they never let challenges hold them back. One such firefighter from Manchester, New Hampshire, is receiving admiration for his heartwarming interaction with a nonverbal boy using sign language.
Lt. Mike Rheault of the Manchester Fire Department was responding to a call at an apartment building where Amy McCall lives with her young son, Tegan, who has cerebral palsy and is nonverbal.
Rheault says, “I said, ‘Hey, how are you?’ And he kind of smiled at me,” Rheault said. “And I said, ‘My name is Mike.’ And I said, ‘What’s your name?’ And he said, ‘My name is Tegan’, he said, ‘Oh, it’s nice to meet you.’
It didn’t end there for Tegan, because Rheault also taught him how to say the word “fireman” in sign language.
Tegan’s mother, Amy, was deeply moved by the brief but meaningful encounter. “It made me cry after I came back inside,” McCall said. “Tegan was thrilled.”
As a special gift, Rheault gave Tegan a fire chief’s hat, leaving the young boy over the moon with joy.
