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Effort ramps up 2 boys' lives By Diane Brooks After a lifetime of being carried up and down steps, 7-year-old Ryan Hribernick transported himself into his
He popped a wheelie in his wheelchair in celebration as he crossed the threshold. His twin brother, Cole, is less independent. Though both boys struggle with the physical ravages of cerebral palsy, Cole has additional developmental disabilities. But he, too, celebrated as his father pushed his wheelchair up and down the family's new 54-foot backyard ramp, built last weekend by dozens of caring strangers. "He called it going down the slide -- wheeeeeee!" said their father, John Hribernick. The Hribernicks' free wheelchair ramp -- worth $18,000 -- was among 26 built Saturday in 13 cities as part of an annual Rampathon sponsored by the Master Builders Association of King and
Nearly a dozen companies donated labor or supplies -- lumber, nonskid panels, concrete, paint and lighting equipment. Most ramps are simple affairs that cost about $3,000 and are built in a day by small crews. But Hribernick's corner property wasn't situated well for a standard ramp, so the Master Builders nearly turned down his application. About 90 people applied for Rampathon projects this year. "They didn't think it was anything anybody would be able to take on," said Westhill owner Chuck Russell III. "We went out and took a look at it. And once we met [the Hribernicks] and saw how much the father was struggling -- how much it meant to them and how the kids couldn't get outside -- we just couldn't say no." Hribernick shares custody of the boys with his ex-wife, who lives in
When he bought his house off
The boys were born 25 weeks early, weighing only 2 pounds each. They were diagnosed 18 months later with cerebral palsy, traumatic brain damage. Cole is a first-grader in a special-education class at
Hribernick said he heard about Rampathon from a fathers support group. Darylene Dennon, a co-chairwoman of the 12-year-old Rampathon campaign, was thrilled about the project. "I don't even want to talk about it; I start crying," she said. "The dad hastried everything possible to make sure they get out as much as they can. People don't understand -- it's a whole big difference to be able to get out of the house on your own. We build access to freedom." Westhill designed the ramp, which starts on a deck outside the Hribernicks' back door. It slopes over some steps, stretching 16 linear feet, then doubles back to the other end of the deck, where it extends 8 feet to a turning platform and the bottom 30 feet of ramp. Work began Friday when another contractor, Dan the Dirt Guy, sent a crew to rip down a storage shed and smooth out the back yard. Westhill's work party built the ramp Saturday, and on Monday a concrete company, Galeed, poured a pad at the ramp's base and a 9-foot-wide driveway extension. A Mirsky Electric worker installed a motion-activated lighting system. Mike Elkins, Westhill's production manager, wants to go back once more. The ramp displaced a backyard basketball hoop; he plans to reinstall it above the new parking pad so the boys can shoot baskets from their wheelchairs. It was a deeply satisfying project for company workers, Elkins said. "I told them, what they got out of [Saturday] is far greater than what I could ever pay them. They might not realize it now, but at some point it will come back to them. I think it changed the lives of three people forever." |