“A new bicycle,” the wide-eyed 7-year-old said. “Now I can donate my old bike.”
Xavier was gifted the new wheels Tuesday, while about a dozen Orlando firefighters were building bikes for kids in the Reeves Terrace neighborhood as part of the annual Wheels for Kids drive.
Xavier doesn’t live in the Orlando Housing Authority neighborhood near Bumby Avenue, but firefighters invited him to their downtown station during the event for what he thought was a tour of the facility.
Instead, they revealed one of the newly built bikes was for him.
The gift was an award for his actions Nov. 27, when he called 911 and calmly reported his mother was “on the floor unresponsive,” and then that she was seizing. The 911 dispatcher told Xavier paramedics were on the way and asked the boy to monitor when his mom wakes up.
“Mom, are you there?” Xavier is heard saying in audio released by OFD. “Mom, help is on the way.”
The 7-year-old was able to tell dispatchers his full address, including his apartment number, and that his mother suffers from a medical condition. Williams said that helped save her life.
“Young kids are actually... the best callers,” said Danette Jameson, assistant communications manager for OFD. “They follow instructions. They do not understand the gravity of the situation, so they’re usually a lot calmer and they’re easier to get the information out of that we need.”
Xavier credited his great-grandparents for his quick thinking.
“I was taught by the best,” he said.
Paul Meinholz said he taught his great-grandson to call 911 during an emergency when he was about 2 years old. He also memorized his mom’s and great-grandparents’ phone numbers. Xavier acts less like a second-grader and more like a 27-year-old man, Paul Meinholz said — smart and “with all the ethics I wish every kid would have.”
While Xavier took his new wheels for a spin around the garage, firefighters continued bolting bikes together, occasionally dropping the wrenches and bike parts when dispatched to a 911 call.
By the end of the day, the agency planned to put together nearly 90 bikes, which will be handed out Friday at Howard Middle School. More than 1,100 have been donated since 2002, when City Commissioner Patty Sheehan started the Wheels for Kids program after the Reeves Terrace neighborhood lost a busing system to take kids to school.
The goal is to help kids make the one-mile-plus commute from Reeves Terrace to Howard Middle School on East Robinson Street — but, as a few firefighters said Tuesday, a new bike can also open a world of possibilities for a kid.
“It gives you that freedom,” said Daniel Fleming, a retired district chief who returned to the station to help.
He remembered writing to Santa Claus in first grade, asking for a red Stingray. And when he saw it on Christmas morning, “it was awesome,” he said.
“I just want another child to get to experience what I did,” Fleming said.
Tess Sheets can be reached at tsheets@orlandosentinel.com or 407-420-5020. Twitter: @sheets_tess
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