Firefighters answer call for handicapped teen

By Staff
Vickey Daugette, Special to the Enquirer
Firefighters with the Somerville Area Voluntary Emergency Services (SAVES) befriended a 14-year-old Somerville boy on Sunday by outfitting him with a fireman's turnout gear and making him an honorary firefighter.
Daniel Layton, a victim of a neuromuscular disease, received a fireman's helmet, coat, T-shirt and an engraved plaque containing the words of the "Firemen's Prayer." Presentations were made by firefighter Sammy Lawrimore, Lt. Christ Tolbert and firefighter/EMT Lane Champion.
Afterwards, he got to ride on a fire engine, tour a MedFlight helicopter and spray water with a fireman's hose.
J.J. Daugette, assistant fire chief, emceed the ceremony. He introduced the honoree and shared a conversation he had recently with the Priceville High School eighth grader.
"He told me 'when I grow up Mr. J.J., I want to be a firefighter just like you.'"
Daniel was diagnosed with Fredtrix's Ataxia, a disease of muscle and nerve tissue for which there is no known cure, when he was five-years-old. His body produces an excess amount of iron and as a result the muscles harden and become nonfunctional. He has been confined to a wheelchair since age nine.
His parents are Rob and Regina Croxell and he has a sister, Victoria. Mark and Linda Mayes and Monty Croxell are his grandparents.
The ceremony was conducted at 2 p.m. at the new Somerville fire station with some 20 family members, firefighters and guests in attendance.