There is nothing that a father will not do for the happiness of their child. And for Greg Eichhorn, creating a wheelchair-accessible igloo for his treasured children is but one of them. Greg dedicated his incredible effort in his desire to give his nine kids, who have special needs, a fun childhood that they wouldn’t forget.
When the snow started falling and piling, Greg and his supportive sister, Sarah, spent almost five hours of their time in building a wheelchair-accessible igloo for the 19-year-old Zahara and 11-year-old Elijah. For Greg, his now viral effort, is nothing more of a father who is simply looking out for the welfare of his children.
“I keep telling everybody, it’s really no big deal. We were already building a snow fort so when we were doing it I said, ‘Hey, let’s build it so that Elijah and Zahara, my two kids in wheelchairs, could use it as well.'” Greg humbly explained.
“I said, ‘They’d love to use the snow fort!’ It was all very passive, we just wanted to be able to include the handicapped kids who wouldn’t be able to participate in the building of it.” Greg added.
Greg shared that he did have fun building the igloo with the help of most of his children. However, the people who did the bulk of work in the construction of the igloo are no other than Sarah and himself. Although the one-of-a-kind igloo took some time and determination to create, Greg and Sarah believe that it was all worth the effort. After all, they were able to accomplish their goal- to make the kids happy!
“They loved it! They were having a blast. The day afterward, we even put a slide on the top so they could slide off the top of it. Elijah opened his eyes up in there, and that was a big deal because he has cortical vision impairment. Our kids were so excited to see that.” The doting father explained, describing how Elijah and Zahara, who are both nonverbal, expressed their delight to his special igloo.
For Greg, knowing that his precious children are having the time of their life like other kids is more than enough.
“It’s just fun to build those kinds of things for nice family moments. [Zahara] just lit up. She smiled real big. I know she felt really special and included. She’s either bored or she’s happy –– and she was very, very happy to be out there.” Greg happily reiterated.
The loving father took photos of his masterpiece and shared it on his Facebook post along with the caption of:
“Built this handicap accessible igloo today with my sister. Includes mini igloo and second floor snowball deck. Not the first ambitious I’ve done.”
His beautiful craft was then shared on Reddit by his good friend, making his story viral!
“We didn’t know about all the people that were gonna be interested. For me, this is no big deal…” Greg explained on an interview. Apparently, the Reddit post of his friend amazed a lot of people across the globe that it reached 71 thousand upvotes in less than a week! A lot of people are praising Greg for his dedication as a father.
“A+ dad right there!” A Redditor exclaimed, commending Greg for going the extra-mile for his children.
“Look at that smile! It must feel so good as a dad to bring a smile like that to your kid’s face.” Another Redditor shared, wondering how full Greg’s heart must have been.
“What an inspiring family! As the mother of 3 kids without special needs, I’m amazed at the unending patience and love this family must have. Their lives must be so exhausting yet rewarding.” Another Redditor said, trying to put herself in the shoes of Greg and his wife, Katie.
Instead of internet recognition and viral fame, Greg hopes that his story would be able to help encourage people to adopt children with special needs. After all, in the US alone, roughly around 40%-60% of children in line for adoption through foster care have physical, or emotional special needs. Beyond their special needs are children who are capable of loving as well.
“Our family is getting kind of full and it would be great if people stepped up, took on the same roles and enjoyed the kind of joy that we do,” Greg happily shared. “Because yeah, we get a lot of joy out of life.”
Watch the heartwarming video below and learn more about Greg- the doting father who would do everything possible for the happiness of his children!
Video via WCPO.com | 9 On Your Side