Garland firefighters are working around the clock to raise money for one of their own who was injured in a car crash that may have left him paralyzed for life.
Devon Colbert, 28, may not walk again after a car crashed into his vehicle on Dec. 17 in Rockwall. His 2-year-old son was also strapped into the car but was not hurt.
Emily Colbert watched her husband follow his lifelong passion to become a firefighter, only to have the unexpected setback thrown in their path.
"It breaks my heart," she said. "It breaks my heart, because I know how hard he worked to get where he is. I know how hard we've worked as a family to get where he is."
The Garland Fire Department has been working to raise money for her and their two young boys, covering shifts and making 24-hour visiting rounds at the Baylor Institute for Rehabilitation.
"If it wasn't for our faith, we would be on the ground," Emily Colbert said. "If it wasn't for our extended fire family and family coming and picking us up, I don't know how we would be making it."
"He would do the same for me in a heartbeat," said Ross Dyer, who filled in for Colbert on his New Year's Eve shift. "He would do the same for anybody in this department."
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Devon Colbert has been working at the Garland Fire Station No. 7 for the past year, but it took him nearly seven years just to get a job in the department. Before, he was a volunteer with the Rockwall Fire Department.
"He is so thankful to have this job," firefighter Jerry Click said. "He gets here almost two hours early before his shift starts, and he's the last one to leave. He works nonstop."
Emily and Devon Colbert are holding onto their hope that one day he'll be back where he always wanted to be.
"He will walk again," Emily Colbert said. "I have to believe that; that's what I'm holding onto in my heart."
