The Story behind the Hero

I was watching my son playing baseball when I looked over and saw a man struggling. He was in a wheelchair working his way from the parking lot to the baseball diamond where his team was warming up for a game. He spun the wheels around the rain-rutted dirt path and rocks to slowly make his way to the dugout. Many of us felt like we should help—but we knew he was determined to do it on his own.

I, of course knew who he was, Bob Juarez, the Davenport firefighter injured fighting a fire downtown two years ago this Spring. But like so many stories we cover at KWQC, I really didn’t know much more about the person—other than realizing his life was forever changed after he fell from that ladder.

I saw the Pony League ballplayers (13 and 14 year olds) react to this man wheeling into his place in the dugout and reaching for the scorebook. They were excited to see him and eager for him to help them play baseball.

“After the accident, they wanted to play even harder for Bob,” Coach Denny Boever explained. “They dedicated the rest of the season to him—they were playing for Bob.”

Bob Juarez - Everyday Hero

Bob knew the injury had taken away a lot of things that he used to be able to do. But he was determined to challenge his body to see what it could still do—and what he could still offer to his baseball team.

“He would pull the kids aside and talk with them about their swing. He would work with them on the basics of the game,” Boever said. Boever’s son was one of the kids he helped.

“I was having a little trouble hitting,” Mitchel explained. “He helped show me things I could do to hit the ball better.”

The man who had lost most of the use of his legs—was using his talents to teach young players how to use their legs. He inspired that team—and so many others with his determination and commitment to the game, the kids and to himself.

“He was never a yeller,” Umpire and league president Rand Wanio told me. “He was and is such a great role model for the kids. He was the same person after the accident as he was before. Same person whether he was in a chair or not.”

The young player, now in high school, sums it up. “He supported our team by showing us you never give up. You keep pushing no matter what. He never gave up on himself or us—and we have learned so much from him.”

Now Bob Juarez has teamed up with Quad City coach Sean Mizlo to play wheelchair softball. They are hoping to build an adult and possibly a youth team to compete against other teams across the country. Just one of the reasons so many people are calling Juarez and everyday hero.

(QCWHEELCHAIRSPORTS@YAHOO.COM)

Ken Martin—An Everyday Hero

I’ll never forget hosting my first Festival of Trees Holiday Parade more than a dozen years ago for KWQC-TV6. It was heart-warming to see the huge crowds of families, the marching bands, the handmade floats, and of course the helium balloons, but one entry made it to the top of my list that first year—and has remained there every year since— The Metro Youth Drill Team.

“Who are they?” I remember asking. “They are awesome.”

It was explained to me that they were inner city kids who formed their own team to showcase their talents and give back to the community.

I found myself wanting to know more. My search was similar to a young man I talked to when doing a story on the drill team this fall. “I was walking around with a friend when I heard drumming. I didn’t know there was a drill team here. I went home and told my dad about it—then came back and signed up.”

Signed up to be part of something that is much more than just a drill team that found a home inside a former Rock Island nightclub. A place made possible by volunteers that started this program 25 years ago. Ken Martin, a retired John Deere supervisor, has been there every step of the way.

“The community streets are full of negative. We want to focus on the positive things at Metro and show that the positive can pull harder.”

Through their efforts, they have pulled thousands of kids off the streets and into something they can grow and learn from. One mom, and former drill team member, told me, “Sometimes kids don’t have the support at home. Here they have someone positive to turn to.”

The walls inside the Metro House are covered with headlines of student’s success in academics, athletics and community service. There are photos of them performing everywhere from small parades and schools to personal performances for the President of the United States!

“When a young person is performing, he is the star, she is the star,” Martin explains with a smile. “They get a feeling of pride. That confidence can catapult them to new horizons.”

But what touched me the most on my visit to their community center was seeing the kids, from elementary age to high school, bonding with Ken Martin. Even when he raised his voice to get their attention, you could sense the respect and love they have for each other.

After our profile story aired on tv6—I felt we weren’t quite done. I asked Mr. Martin if I could come visit the Metro House again. This time instead of a camera to record their story (thanks to photojournalist Mike Colon for that), we came with ice cream (thanks to Whitey’s) and a DVD of the story to share with the kids. Many of them did not get the opportunity to see their own story on the news. So, we decided to bring the news story to them.

There is nothing like watching dozens of kids watch themselves on TV. Their elbows bump each other as they appear on screen, their smiles widen as they hear their friends talk to the ‘reporter guy’, and the overwhelming atmosphere of pride for what they have built together.

Proud papa Ken Martin watched and smiled as his final words in the story filled the walls in the Metro House.

“As long as there is breath in my body I will continue to do what I can. If I can teach one, I know we can reach many others.”

That’s a hero in my book.

I first met a little boy named Sergio about two years ago. The eleven year old was battling a rare form of cancer in children (acute myeloid lymphoma). Unfortunately, I have met a lot of children battling illnesses these last couple of years. Behind the illness there is a character born from the struggles a child has to face to win the battle against cancer. In Sergio, there was much more character than I expected. His character reveals itself in more ways than one.

“I got disappearing ink and sprayed it on my doctor’s coat,” he laughed as he told me of his latest prank while undergoing treatment in Iowa City this fall.

To understand what it means to see him laugh, and play pranks—you have to know just a little more of his health history. You see Sergio and his mother were in the fight of his life last year. But as sick as he was, this little guy was so touched by the kindness people showed him, that he was determined to find a way to give back.

“He wanted to put on a blood drive to give the blood back that he used to get better,” his mother Melissa explains. “After the first drive he said, we should do it all the time.” And they have done just that. But they did not stop there. He signed on to help organizations like The Children’s Miracle Network with fundraisers.

Sergio

This fall, the brave boy slowly turning into a young man, stepped up to the podium to address hundreds of people at the Runway to Healing event. He modeled a bit too, strutting his stuff on the runway. “You looked cool, huh?” I teased. “Yeah!” he answered with a smile.

But that smile was hiding something else. As he stood at the podium a bit nervous—his family was nervous too. After beating his cancer the year before, there was new concern about his health. He underwent a painful biopsy just prior to the event. The results would come a few days later—and would take the breath right out of them. Sergio had cancer again.

“I was sad it happened again,” Sergio told me as we sat on the couch in his living room. “

They had been through the most difficult year of their lives. He beat the cancer and was declared cured. Now, they were about to start it all over again. But as heart-broken as they were, they were also determined to fight again with everything they have.

“I’m gong to kick this cancer again,” he said with determination. “I’m going to kick it even harder this time!”

His proud mother shook her head in support and added, “You can’t imagine what this little kid has been through and how strong he has been. All he has been through and he still smiles everyday. He is my hero. I look up to him 100 percent.”

He has found a bone marrow donor and has now been in the hospital fighting for several weeks. He has had plenty of really bad days, and a handful of days to celelbrate. His mom updates his Care Page on a daily basis—sharing his status changes, good and bad, with family and friends. Through it all Sergio and mom Melissa continue pushing for people to help meet and exceed the goal of Dance Marathon—a fundraiser to support families battling cancer.

Sergio and friends

If all goes well, Sergio hopes to make it home for the Super Bowl. If not, I am confident his family will find a way to look at the bright side and overcome the next obstacles too. Find a way to keep showing the courage and determination it takes to beat the illness that has changed all of their lives. Along the way still reaching out to give back to others. That makes them everyday heroes in my book.