March 6, 2023 After eight years, Green Bay firefighters are still involved in his life.
Source Firehouse.com News
Eight years ago, Green Bay firefighters and medics answered a call that would change their lives.
The six responded to a call about a premature newborn who wasn’t breathing.
“I’ll never forget when he let out a little scream. We were high-fiving in the back of the truck,” Firefighter Chad Bronkhorst said, adding that they took ‘Little Doug’ a stuffed animal that he still has.
That was the beginning of a relationship that has grown over the years, the boy’s mother, Cami Behl, told reporters.
They’ve been there for birthday parties and welcome ‘Little Dough’ and his friends to the fire station for visits.
And when they learned last summer that his heart pump was failing, they responded — just as they had eight years earlier.
‘Little Doug’ was in Children’s Wisconsin and placed on end-of-life care.
“That’s where the firemen (sic) were such a blessing because they had such a strong belief in him,” Cami said. “They just knew that this is a little fighter here and he’s gonna make it and he’s going to be okay.”
One of his wishes was to open his own bank account. So, Green Bay firefighters started a “Dollars for Doug” fundraiser.
Things were looking up on the medical front was well when Dr. Iki Adachi from Children’s Hospital in Houston, Texas, took a chance and performed a life-saving surgery.
“Little Doug is making history in the medical community,” Dr. Adachi said. “It’s very rare and that he survived.”
Today, Little Doug is doing great.
“He has paid us in ways that you can’t put any dollar amount on,” Bronkhorst added.