(WSVN) - A blind 6-year-old boy was given a special experience when he visited a fire station with fellow home-school students.
Junie and his group recently took a trip to Plant City Rescue’s Station #3.
According to FOX 13 Tampa, the group was given a tour of the station and explored the fire trucks.
But for Junie, he was given the opportunity for some hands-on experience.
“His favorite part was spending time with this patient firefighter who allowed Junie to feel all over his uniform and gear, touch whatever he wanted, hear the sounds his equipment made and answered all of his questions,” Junie’s mother, Destiny Fiaschetti, wrote on her Facebook page, Adventures of a June Bug.
Junie’s mother took video of him using his hands to run over each part of the firefighter’s uniform, from his mask to oxygen tank, to paint a picture in his head. While Junie touched each piece of equipment, the firefighter explained what it was and their functions.
“He said he especially liked learning about the firefighter’s microphone and how he talks, being in the fire truck parking area, and touching the fire truck,” Fiaschetti told FOX 13. “He loved it! He keeps re-enacting what he learned, pretending he’s asleep and then getting the call from dispatch and jumping up running to the truck and putting the gear on.”
Junie has septo-optic dysplasia, which is a rare disorder of early brain and eye development that left him completely blind.
His mother told FOX 13 he has never had an idea of what a firefighter looked like before, outside of hearing trucks and sirens.
“This absolutely left a lasting impression on Junie and gave him his very first image of a firefighter in his mind,” Fiaschetti said.
“Knowing what firefighter uniforms and gear feels like and the purpose it serves can help visually impaired children be prepared for any possible emergency,” Plant City officials said, while firefighters added, “We are grateful for the chance to help Junie feel comfortable with emergency responders.”
For Fiaschetti, she hopes people who see this act of kindness understand how that can make a big difference to people like her son.
“My biggest thing with sharing was just that people recognize blindness isn’t a lack of seeing but seeing differently,” she said. “He is not less than, just different, and there is beauty in that.”
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