Fit For A Hero

BROOKSVILLE - Complications from a broken ankle have contributed to Kenneth Johns' yearlong stay in a hospital room.

But the U.S. Navy veteran's home was not the right fit for him and his wheelchair, so that also made his stint much longer than necessary. The doors inside his Brookridge home needed to be wider.

When he comes home for good later this month, he will have more room to move thanks to a jointed effort by two area outreach groups and a phone call from a local congresswoman.

"I'm going to have to get remarried now," joked Johns, who said his wife has been away from him for a year doing the jobs around the house he was accustomed to finishing. "She became a carpenter, a plumber, an electrician."

Rebuilding Together Tampa Bay and Christian Contractors Association of Brooksville came together Saturday morning, said a prayer and began working on widening the corridor from the utility room to the main hallway.

Now that Johns has enough space to make a 90-degree turn in his mechanical wheelchair, he can zoom straight toward his bedroom. By the end of the day, his house of 11 years would become livable again.

The renovation makes things easier for Johns' daughter and her family - all of whom attended Saturday's ceremony.

"I'm glad it's happened," said Scott Harapat, who is Johns' son-in-law. "I live in Pasco, so coming up here everyday with a full-time job and family would've been very difficult."

Harapat was prepared to work on the house so that Johns could return home from the hospital. He was relieved it never came to that.

"He's a brilliant man with a lot of great ideas in his head," he said of his father-in-law, who served in the U.S. Navy during the Cuban Missile Crisis. "It's too bad his body won't allow him to do the things he wants to do."

Johns' also suffers from multiple sclerosis, which was partially why his ankle healed so slowly. He said doctors erroneously gave him a walking cast in the beginning. He then suffered a compound fracture in another area of the ankle, which was followed by a severe infection.

It is likely the 68-year-old will never walk again, his daughter said.

Johns first broke his ankle last winter when he took a spill in the bathroom.

Once the renovation is complete, three doors will have been widened and everything in his bathroom will be altered to better accommodate him.

"We had the funding possible to do this," said Jose Garcia, of Rebuilding Together.

Sears donated money to the Tampa chapter, which provided volunteers with enough funds for up to seven jobs.

When U.S. Rep. Ginny Brown-Waite, R-Brooksville, contacted the group, Garcia and the others agreed to do the project even though it was outside of their normal territory. Their work centers mostly on low-income families and people with disabilities in Hillsborough County. They also have done projects for disabled veterans in the past.

"This is the best way for us to show our appreciation for our vets," Garcia said. "It's about sending the right message."

Brown-Waite was at the house Saturday talking to Johns' wife and neighbor, Kathleen Sharick, who first met with the congresswoman at her office in December.

"When she told me her husband had been in the hospital for nine months, I didn't think I heard her correctly," she recalled.

After hearing the full story, Brown-Waite soon thought of Rebuilding Together and Christian Contractors. She asked both of them to work together on the Johns house and they agreed.

Now the family is focused on purchasing a new handicap-accessible van so that Johns does not have to remain homebound.

Johns was in his dining room Saturday morning shaking hands with volunteers and thanking them.

"I'm free at last, so to speak," he said. "This is something we never could've done on our own."

Johns' daughter, Cheri Harapat, looked across the living room at her father and laughed at the wide smile on his face. The scene looked familiar to her.

"This is amazing," she said. "It feels like a mini-'Extreme Makeover.' I'm waiting for Ty (Pennington) to show up any minute."

Reporter Tony Holt can be reached at 352-544-5283 or wholt@hernandotoday.com.