Superhero in the Storm
Greg and Christy O’Connor had been fostering sister and brother, Kaya and Jaxson, for about a year when the 2014 ice storm hit the Birmingham area. The kids were just 4 and 5 years old then, and the O’Connor’s home was at least the second foster home they had lived in.
Knowing they had been through so much transition, Greg wanted to do whatever he could to be with them and prevent the possibility of additional trauma that may be added to their lives by being separated from their parents, even for just one night.
No one expected this storm that would literally freeze time and roads. Greg was traveling with a co-worker and was not in his own car when the road conditions began deteriorating around noon. They were in Moody (AL) at the time, and the kids were roughly 30 miles away in Hoover.
He and Christy began texting and realized there was no practical way to get the kids home since she was stuck at work, and even if he got home, he was without a car since his was at work. He knew he’d either have to run or ride his mountain bike to the daycare to be with them.
“Children need safe places every day, and our foster parents will do whatever is needed to make sure that happens.”
Not knowing if he’d make it or not, they continued to travel, even getting out a few times to push cars up hills to clear traffic. Greg shared, “I did that partly out of the goodness of my heart, but also because I really wanted to keep moving!” Being fairly athletic, he began mapping out how close he would have to be to run home without risking serious injury since he’d be running in work/dress shoes.
About 6 hours later, they made it to the Hoover area, but he had to run the last 2 miles to get home since those roads were not drivable. He quickly changed clothes, got a backpack with nighttime essentials so the kids could have a “normal night,” and he hit the roads again.
With a flashlight strapped on his bike handlebars, he began the 8-mile trek to the daycare. Despite slipping and sliding several times into ditches masked by snow and ice, he made it just as the workers were finishing up dinner, just in time to help get his children ready for bed.
Though he had been discouraged by some from taking the risk of getting there, he said, “I couldn’t have slept in my comfortable bed, knowing my kids were stranded just as they had been in other areas of their lives; I could not be comfortable when I knew my children were in need, and there was a chance that I could be there for them.”
Greg is very humble about his actions that day, giving all credit to the Lord for making the way possible for him. He is also quick to share, when talking about it with others, that one way to look at that night is that one foster parent did what he could to make sure his kids were cared for. Another way though, that he feels is just as true, is that, “It’s a good picture of what al lABCH foster parents do for their kids. Children need safe places every day, and our foster parents will do whatever is needed to make sure that happens.”
Learn more about our Foster Care ministry here.