My Clearwater
Fall 51
A 12-year-old boy
with a debilitating
neurological
condition has a new
sense of freedom thanks to a
Clearwater Fire & Rescue fire
medic and others.
Sean Findley has Alexander’s disease,
a rare neurological condition that
usually leads to a short life expectancy.
Fire Medic Jerome Mourelatos first met the boy
when he was 4 years old at National Night Out Against
Crime, held at Clearwater Mall. For four or five years,
Mourelatos would run calls at the boy’s house for seizures.
Then the calls stopped coming, and the fire medic was
concerned the boy might have died. The calls then resumed
and Mourelatos has forged a bond with the child over the
years.
“This kid’s got my heart,” the fire medic said.
The boy’s residence didn’t have a
wheelchair ramp, so that made
it hard for Sean and his family
to come and go. That’s when
Mourelatos came up with a
plan – to build a ramp for him.
He found an architect, Arcdesign,
to draw up the plans. He talked
with Lowe’s about the project, and the
home improvement store donated all of
the materials, and even sent one of their workers
out to help. Two current firefighters and one former
firefighter teamed up over three days to pool their talents
and build the ramp.
“A lot of the things we take for granted, he’s not able to do,”
Mourelatos said.
Now, thanks to the efforts of the fire medic and others, he is
able to do some of those things more easily.
“This Kid’s Got My Heart”
These photos were taken pre-pandemic.