Special to Henderson County Now
The first weekend in September, Dallas does a 9-11 stair climb. They chose 343 fireman to climb 110 flights of stairs in full bunker gear in memory of the 343 fireman who lost their lives on 9-11!
This year, 5-year-old Karter Whittenberg, the grandson of the Eustace Fire Chief, along with his brothers Kash Khalon and Kharson Whittenberg went to the Dallas 9-11 stair climb to watch their father, Eustace Fireman Robert Whittenberg, climb 110 flights.
While the boys were waiting on their father to come off the elevator, a group of firemen who had already completed the climb walked by and one bent down and handed Karter Whittenberg a fireman figurine and walked off.
This man never knew Karter’s condition. The Thursday before the walk, Karter’s family was told that Karter was in the ending stage of renal failure and would be put on dialysis and a transplant list beginning Oct. 3. Karter’s mother Christin posted on Facebook looking for the fireman who gave Karter the figurine in hopes she would find him.
Her post was shared more than 250 times and within 24 hours the fireman, Ross Escabota, was found. He is a Lockheed Martin Fireman out of Fort Worth. Ross was contacted and came down to meet little Karter that night. It was a huge blessing. He chose two kids to hand fireman figurines to out of hundreds and hundreds of kids, and picked little Karter, not knowing his condition.
Karter got to meet Ross and exchange some very special memorabilia this week. A 343 shield along w the 9-11 coin and Ross received a Eustace Fire shirt. These two will have a special bond forever.