By Amber Washington/reporter@trcle.com
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Just before Christmas, David Lummus received a phone call that would change his life.
Lummus, a single father living in Joshua, struggled with home repairs because not only did he have five children living in his house, one of his 12-year-old twin sons was born with Static Encephalopathy and Hydrocephalus. The permanent brain disease, also known as “water on the brain,” usually claims its victims before their teenage years.
But by all other accounts, Dylan Lummus is a healthy child, Lummus said.
“He’s in great shape; he’s in excellent health,” Lummus said. “His body, heart, lungs are all in excellent shape. It’s just in the brain. Water on the brain causes slow learning, blindness, disability. It’s all due to damaging of the brain cells. He’s 12 years old and pretty much like a six-month-old baby. He can’t sit up, walk or anything.”
Lummus and his ex-wife lost a son several years ago to the same genetic disease.
When he learned that the nonprofit Arlington children’s charity, A Wish with Wings, planned to come out and remodel his home, he was ecstatic.
“They called us and told us they had accepted [Dylan’s] application and they wanted to do some things for him,” Lummus said. “They inspected the house to see where the [skylight] leak was. We just wanted the roof done, and to fix our [1991 Chevrolet] van.”
After looking at what needed repair, contractors decided to go ahead and revamp the entire mobile home from the ground up, as well as complete some much-needed repairs on the family van.
“Everybody understands this is not for us, it’s for Dylan,” Lummus said.
Austin Lummus, David’s 16-year-old son, is especially excited for his little brother.
“It’s pretty exciting to know that there’s people out there willing to help,” Austin said. “Some people don’t get this chance ... to experience a better life for a brother like mine.”
Austin said contractors asked him if he’d like any special colors or paint work done in his room. But Austin said he wasn’t concerned with that.
“I didn’t care what they did,” Austin said. “I’m just happy [Dylan’s] getting something better. Having our rooms painted and new carpet is also nice.”
Austin admits he didn’t know his dad had signed up for help with A Wish with Wings. He didn’t even know the home renovations would take place until he came home one day and saw trucks in the driveway.
David said he didn’t want to make a big deal of sending in Dylan’s wish application if nothing came out of it.
“I had seen a family [benefit from A Wish with Wings] probably five or six months ago on TV,” David said. “I decided to call them and put an application for Dylan, knowing that he may not make it to his teenage years. My other kids get left out a lot because of him and the mobility of trying to get out to places.”
A Wish with Wings got in touch with Rentenbach Constructors Inc., out of Hurst, to complete the project.
Executive director of A Wish with Wings, Judy Youngs, said Rentenbach decided to bypass their Christmas party and instead use those funds to help out a local family. She gave several families’ applications to Rentenbach and it turned out the Lummus family was a perfect fit.
“We shared with them the story of the Lummus family,” Youngs said. “Along with their application they [the family] had included a letter that they had some issues with their home and their van was kind of broken down. It was just one of those things that worked, the timing was just right.”
Kinney’s Automotive in Hurst offered to do all the repair work on the family van including air conditioning and heat repairs, new tires and fixing the hydraulic system to Dylan’s wheelchair lift.
Others came in to help, too. Sleep Experts donated a new mattress for Dylan’s bed. Austin said that should help with Dylan’s back problems.
Rentenbach even built a new room for Dylan so he doesn’t have to stay in the master bedroom anymore.
“It puts things in perspective,” Austin said. “It makes me feel better that he has his own place.”
Youngs said the home renovation is somewhat out of the ordinary for A Wish with Wings. The organization typically plans trips or gives specific gifts for children with life-threatening conditions.
“The most frequently requested wish is a trip to Disney World for the family,” Youngs said. “Other children may want a shopping spree to buy electronics or toys. One young man wished for a new tuba to play for his high school band. We’ve had two wishes for puppies this year.”
Mike Smith, vice president of Rentenbach, has been at the home every day since Tuesday overseeing the work.
He said they have remodeled a few rooms and completed other small-scale renovations with A Wish with Wings, but nothing like what they are doing for Dylan.
“This is probably the largest thing we’ve done,” he said. “It’s fun. I like to get out in the field.”
A Wish with Wings put the Lummus family in a local hotel for the week while they wait for their home to be remodeled.
A reveal of the home is scheduled for noon Saturday, so contractors are working day and night to make sure the house is ready for Dylan when he returns.
