'Money can't buy this': Maritime Make-A-Wish child becomes firefighter for a day

Fourteen-year-old Jacob Scott’s day began at 9 a.m. Thursday with a fire truck ride to a special destination -- the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverley, N.S.

Scott was beaming when he arrived, seeing a crew of firefighters, and “Sparky” the mascot ready to greet him, all part of an extraordinary experience planned for him by the Make-A-Wish Foundation.

“It’s all about bringing joy to the child that is impacted by critical illness,” says Make-A-Wish Canada senior manager of development, Joyce Nifort. “It not only brings joy to Jacob, you can actually see a lot of joy with the parents as well.”

‘GODSEND OPERATION’

Jacob's father says his son was 22-months-old when he had his first seizure and was eventually diagnosed with epilepsy.

“They basically told us, ‘Take him home,’ he was going to live a short life,” says Nicholas Scott. “As parents, we never agreed to those terms, and we tried many things.”

Jacob lived the next 12 years enduring dozens of seizures a day, until he was able to undergo a new type of brain surgery, one Scott calls “a godsend operation.”

“He’s never gone face-first in the ground since this surgery,” he said. “Now, a bad day, (he has) three or four, sometimes none.”

JACOB’S WISH

Jacob's surgery meant he was able to embark on his wish to become a firefighter for a day, an opportunity staff at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School jumped at.

“Firefighting is just a big part of the giving back culture,” says senior instructor Chris MacKenzie. “So when they contacted us to do this, it was more of a question of when are we going to make this work, and how are we going to get it done, and not whether or not it could be done.”

The crew organized a full day for Jacob, starting with a tour of the school and eventually getting Jacob geared up in full fire fighting gear.

Jacob tries on his own firefighting gear. (Heidi Petracek/CTV Atlantic)Jacob also had plenty of questions about almost every part of the school’s fire trucks.

But the highlight of the day came when it was time to jump in the truck and fight several fires on the school’s simulation grounds.

Each fire was carefully controlled, with staff on standby, but Jacob was fully involved in rolling out the fire hose, turning it on, approaching the flames, and dousing them until they were extinguished.

Jacob fights a simulation fire at the Nova Scotia Firefighters School in Waverley, N.S. (Heidi Petracek/CTV Atlantic)

His father joined in on the exercises, getting the chance to see his son’s excitement up close.

“Money can't buy this,” he says. “Seeing the smile on his face, just knowing what this means to him.”

MacKenzie says Jacob handled the heavy firefighting gear well, right down to the oxygen tank and mask.

“It's very impressive, and it's one of the coolest things I’ve ever been a part of,” he adds.

At the end of the day, Jacob received his own firefighter’s helmet, along with a junior firefighter’s certificate.

“I think we’re hoping that this is the best day that he can remember in a very long time,” says MacKenzie. “And really that’s all we can ask for.” 

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