It’s a struggle for a teen in a wheelchair to get on and off a bus every day. Big thanks to a kindhearted stranger who went out of his way to build a ramp to make things a bit easier and comfier for this young woman.
Almay Belton is in a wheelchair and needs her dad’s help to go up the front steps of their house when she gets off the school bus. “Then, basically when she gets off the bus, she has a little frown on her face, like here we go, back it up, about to go up these steps,” said Anthony Belton, Almay’s dad.
It was also a daily struggle for this dad, for his back was also in pain. “Well, it was kind of hard mostly on her, because basically she’s going up and down the steps, so basically constantly bumping and dumping down the steps, and you see her jumping and jumping. Then at the same time, it’s hard on me, dealing with my back, and I’m getting older, not younger,” Anthony said in an interview with Wyoming News.
Out of nowhere, someone stepped in and gave this father and daughter a solution to their problem. Joe Hill, the owner of Premier Waterproofing, witnessed their daily struggle and volunteered to help. “The school bus stopped, and I saw what he was going through getting his daughter down,” he said.
He gave them a visit and presented a proposal. ‘Would you mind if I come out here and just built you a ramp for nothing?’ And he kind of got me. I kind of looked at him funny and said, ‘Yeah, there’s got to be a catch to it. Ain’t nothing for nothing. Haha,'” Anthony said.
True to his words, Joe and his team came to their house while Almay was in school. They built the ramp free of charge!
Almay was happy to see the ramp waiting for her when she got off the school bus. “Joy in my heart to see her smile, as soon as the door opened, and she got there, she just started smiling,” Anthony said. Finally, this father and daughter’s daily struggle had come to an end.
“All I can say is nothing in the world that can put a smile on dad’s face than seeing his kids smile, especially seeing something that she’s going to enjoy. Nothing,” the grateful dad said.
Almay’s smile was the only reward the Good Samaritan needed. “The smile did it for me, yeah, and knowing she can do it pretty much by herself, so it’s a little more independence for her,” Joe explained.
“I saw a need, and I knew I could take care of it, went from there,” he added.
Anthony reminded people of the value of helping one another. “We need to have more Samaritans out here doing the same thing, as far as helping each other, instead of putting each other down. We need to be there for each other. And by him doing that shows you right there, there are people in the world that do have hearts that do care about other people,” he said.
An African proverb states, “It takes a village to raise a child.” This was certainly true in this case. One does not require to be related by blood to meet a child’s need. A kind and generous heart is all it takes to help raise kids to be equally kind when they grow up.
