Luckily for the Beals family, DeHarty was on call that night.
DeHarty’s job involves repairing and inspecting sewer lines, water mains, often requiring confined space entry. It requires not only technical know-how, but a willingness to work in extreme conditions. That night, however, DeHarty brought something else to the job.
“I’d gotten a call for a sewer back-up, but when I turned the corner to [Beals’] block, I saw it was a water main break. There was 2 feet of water coming down the road,” DeHarty recalled.
DeHarty radioed his base and told them to start shutting off the water for that part of the city, and then he went door to door, notifying all the residents on the street about the break and checking their basements for flooding.
When he came to the Beals’ home, he met Jim, who explained the dilemma he was facing. Lynette was on the phone with him helping to figure out what he should do.
“When I heard what was going on with their son, there was no question: I’m going to do whatever you need me to do,” said DeHarty, a father of four.
DeHarty told Jim to leave his house key with him, promising to take care of everything. He didn’t want them to worry about their home; they had more important things to deal with.
“I told him to worry about your son. I’ll worry about your house,” said DeHarty.
Over the next two days, as Gregory underwent tests in Omaha, DeHarty and his team of city workers moved the Beals’ basement furniture above the water, set the dry furniture on pallets, pumped out water that had poured in, and restored the damaged items.
“He never did explain what he did [at our house] that night,” said Tiede-Beals. “It just got done.”
