446th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
2/9/2014 - MCCHORD FIELD, Wash. -- The spirit of the 12th Man has thrilled and united everyone in the Pacific Northwest on the Seattle Seahawks' road to victory this year, so much so, that one 446th Airlift Wing reservist went out of his way to make a young "12" he had never met before feel like a part of the team.
Tech. Sgt. Shawn Walker, 446th Civil Engineer Squadron firefighter, and his girlfriend, Jessica Kuehne, made a little boy's dream come true when they took his ordinary wheelchair and transformed it into a 12th Man masterpiece.
"It started with a Facebook page called, 'The Place Where ONLY 12's Hang with Mama Sherman'," said Walker.
Beverly Sherman, also known as "Mama Sherman" started the page to raise local spirit for her son's team. Bevelry's son Richard Sherman, is the Seahawk's cornerback.
Glenda Lee, from East Wenatchee, Wash., wrote a story about her son Karter, saying that he would someday have a wheelchair covered in Seahawks stickers and that he would go up and down the hallways yelling to everybody, 'Go Hawks!', said Kuehne, who is also an administrator on the Facebook page.
Karter Lee has cerebral palsy, a group of disorders that can involve brain and nervous system functions, such as movement, learning, hearing, seeing, and thinking, according to A.D.A.M. Education.
Because of this, he had been bullied and was struggling at school.
Kuehne and Walker took the opportunity to make the Karter's dream a reality. First, they pulled together a support team. Kuehne contacted Barry Clements in East Wenatchee, to powder coat the wheel chair. He agreed immediately, donating both his time and money. Walker also contacted a graphic artist in Puyallup, Wash., who made all of the stickers for the wheelchair for free. A man from Sacramento, Calif., even donated the paint for the new ride. Kuehne and Walker donated the upholstery and pieced the finished product together.
Before they could begin, they had to surprise Glenda with the news.
"We hadn't told the family that we were going to do it, so we had them come over and do a radio show with Beverly Sherman on KJR 950," said Kuehne. "At the end of it, we had Barry call in and present the family with, 'We're going to Hawk out your wheelchair!' From what I heard, there wasn't a dry eye in that entire audience."
Glenda told Karter that the wheelchair fell out of the truck so she had taken it in to be fixed, said Kuehne. This gave the team time to work and in just five days the wheelchair was completely Hawked-out.
Finally, it was time to return the wheelchair to its rightful owner.
"Karter is normally a very shy and reserved kid, but when he saw the wheel chair and the 12 on the back, and realized this was all about and for him, he had a smile from ear to ear and a new-found confidence about him," said Walker. "This is a kid who's had to feel different his whole life and finally he's looked at as different because of how special he is."
Kuehne agrees with Walker's assessment.
"We told him that he was now a part of the team, that he was one of the 12's," said Kuehne. "It's amazing how much things have changed for him since. He's become so confident from just a simple thing that a bunch of people did."
Walker, a Seahawks season ticket holder said, "It was rewarding knowing that we were making a little boy's dream come true, and it helped that he was a fellow '12'."
To end this season, Walker flew to New York City to watch the Seahawks win the NFL championship game. "It's the franchise's first Super Bowl win ever and to be a part of that was amazing."
Reservists from the 446th AW also shared this win as the team's official military unit for the season.
"Basically, it's the success of a football team that brought people together," said Walker. "And now we're going to use that avenue to do charity work."
Walker and Kuehne plan to continue their efforts by starting a charity in Karter's name.
"We've had lots of people who want to donate and want to do more wheelchairs," said Walker. "We've even looked into possibly doing something to incorporate the military side too because I know there are lots of Soldiers and Airmen, who are sports fans, who would love to have something like this happen."
The Karter Lee Project 12 charity's website, www.karterleeproject12.org, is scheduled to launch next week and will have information for those who want to get involved.
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