夢想的力量：世界上最矮的消防員

Training to be a fireman is a tall order for anyone， but the odds are bigger when you’re 4 feet 2 inches tall.

Still， Vince Brasco， 19， hasn’t let a little thing like height stop him from volunteering at his local fire department in Carbon， Pa.， for the past four years， despite being born with achondroplasia， a type of dwarfism that affects bone growth.

“I’ll never let having achondroplasia stop me from doing anything，” he told Barcroft Media. “I just set my mind to something and I go out and do my best. I wanted to be a fireman as a child so as soon as I was old enough to volunteer at 16. I did it.”

Achondroplasia is a disability， but it hasn’t affected Brasco’s ability from going full blaze when it comes to fighting fires. Nope， he races to emergencies up to three times a day along with the rest of his crew， who all tower above him. In fact， when there’s a big inferno， Brasco mans the hose at neighborhood blazes with his colleagues， helping to control the high-pressure jets.

A bum knee and various medical problems have required him to have 14 surgeries on his left leg. But that hasn’t prevented him from doing the job.

Brasco says the doctor who gave him the physical exam to join the fire squad tried to talk him out of it.

“It was a pretty heated argument because he doesn’t know me，” Brasco told PittsburghlLive.com. “He doesn’t know what I can do. I’m just like everyone else. I just do things a little different. It’s just different things I might need help with. I’m not afraid to ask for help.”

Brasco’s dedication to doing the best job possible is earning admiration from his fellow little people， such as Gary Arnold， a spokesman forLittle People Of America， a support group for Americans of short stature due to dwarfism. According to the group， Brasco is the smallest firefighter that they know of.

“It’s exciting to learn about Vince Brasco and the work he is doing as a volunteer fire fighter，” Arnold told HuffPost Weird News. “People with dwarfism should be judged and evaluated according to their skills and abilities. It’s great that Vince， who has proven that he has the skills and dedication， now has the opportunity to work alongside other firefighters and contribute to his community.”

Arnold isn’t shocked that the doctor who gave the physical had doubt， but he isn’t surprised that Brasco has thrived either.

“For Vince and for other people with dwarfism， it’s often social barriers against physical difference， not dwarfism， that stops them from doing things they want to do，” Arnold said. “It is my hope that the example Vince sets will help others navigate the social barriers that stand in their way.”

Although Brasco is only 87 pounds， he can bench-press 265 pounds， which he says is necessary to handle the hoses and other heavy-duty equipment.

“I work out a lot — as much as I can down at my gym，” Brasco said. “It really helps on the job. You need to be strong. Because I can lift so much. I’m handy at salvage jobs where we have to move heavy bits of metal debris — like after car accidents.”

When there is a fire going， Brasco wears a custom-made fire suit while on the job.

“We had to take a normal suit and have it reduced down to fit me，” he told Barcroft. “It was great when I put it on for the first time.”

When Brasco isn’t fighting fires， he works part time at his local Best Buy and is studying to become a nurse to help others with health needs. But whenever he can， he responds to calls for the volunteer fire service.

“If I am in the area， then I just drop everything and run，” he told Barcroft.

Brasco hopes that once he completes his Firefighter Essentials exam， he’ll be allowed to enter burning buildings.

“Until then， I’m happy to just fight fires from the outside， and attend other emergencies，” Vince said， “but I know I’ve got what it takes.”

His greatest challenge was when a neighbor’s house caught fire last year.

“It was near my home and I knew the family inside. I was part of the crew outside and was firing water in through a second-floor window，” he said. “It was the first time there was an accident involving someone I knew and I was really worried.”

“Sadly， they lost their two German shepherds in the fire but all the people got out safe and I knew we did everything we could. I felt proud to be part of the crew that saved them.”

想成為一名消防員，對任何人來說都不是件容易的事請，尤其是當(dāng)你的身高只有4英尺2英寸。

然而，19歲的文思·布拉斯科卻沒讓身高這樣的小事，阻止他成為賓夕法尼亞州卡本市當(dāng)?shù)叵啦块T的一名志愿者。盡管出生時患有一種影響骨頭生長的侏儒癥——軟骨發(fā)育不全癥，但是現(xiàn)在他已經(jīng)在消防部門里工作了四年。

“我決不會讓軟骨發(fā)育不全癥阻止我做任何事情，”他告訴巴克羅夫特媒體，“我下定決心做某件事情，我就會全力以赴。我很小就想成為一名消防員，當(dāng)我16歲，我就成為了消防志愿者。我實現(xiàn)了我的夢想?！?/p>

軟骨發(fā)育不全癥是一種殘疾，但它并不影響布拉斯科滅火的能力，一點兒也不。他和同事們有時一天三次沖向緊急情況現(xiàn)場。當(dāng)然了，他的所有同事都比他高一大截。事實上，當(dāng)有大火發(fā)生時，布拉斯科會和他的同事在火場外操作水槍，幫助控制高壓水流的噴射。

疼痛的膝蓋和各種健康問題讓他不得不在左腿上做了14次手術(shù)。但這并沒有妨礙他的工作。

布拉斯科說，他加入消防隊時，體檢的醫(yī)生勸說他不要當(dāng)消防員。

“由于他不了解我，那次的爭論相當(dāng)激烈，”布拉斯科告訴PittsburghlLive.com，“他不清楚我能做什么。其實我和其他人一樣，只是我做事情的方式和別人有些不同，我可能需要別人的幫助，我不怕找人幫忙?！?/p>

布拉斯科對工作的全身心投入贏得了小矮人同伙們的欽佩。美國侏儒組織的發(fā)言人加里·阿諾德就是其中之一。該組織為因侏儒癥而身材矮小的美國人提供援助。根據(jù)該組織所說，布拉斯科是他們知道的最矮小的消防員。

“文思·布拉斯科和他當(dāng)消防志愿者的事讓人振奮，”阿諾德對《赫芬頓郵報》奇聞版的記者說，“人們應(yīng)該根據(jù)技能來評判侏儒癥患者。很高興文思已經(jīng)證明了他的能力及奉獻(xiàn)精神，他現(xiàn)在可以和其他消防員并肩作戰(zhàn)，為所在的社區(qū)效力?！?/p>

體檢的醫(yī)生懷疑文思是否可以勝任消防員，阿諾德一點兒也不吃驚?，F(xiàn)在文思成功了，他也不感到驚訝。

“對文思和其他侏儒癥患者而言，往往是因為身體差異造成的社會障礙，而不是侏儒癥本身使他們放棄想做的事情，”阿諾德說，“我希望文思會樹立一個榜樣，幫助他人跨越阻止他們前進(jìn)的社會障礙?！?/p>

雖然文思只有87磅，但他在杠鈴?fù)婆e鍛煉中能舉起265磅的杠鈴。他說這種鍛煉很有必要，因為需要舉起水槍和其他較重的設(shè)備。

“我經(jīng)常鍛煉，每次都在健身房躺下做推舉鍛煉，”文思說，“這對我的工作幫助很大，必須要強壯。因為我能舉起很重的東西，所以我很擅長做需要移動重物的救援工作，比如移動很重的金屬碎片——像交通事故后那樣的?！?/p>

當(dāng)有火災(zāi)發(fā)生時，文思會穿上特制的防火服去救火。

“我們只好拿出一套正常大小的防護服，然后把它裁剪到適合我的尺寸，”他告訴巴克羅夫特，“當(dāng)我第一次穿上它時，感覺棒極了。”

當(dāng)文思不去救火時，他在當(dāng)?shù)氐摹鞍偎假I”做兼職并努力學(xué)習(xí)，想成為一名幫助他人恢復(fù)健康的護士。但如果消防服務(wù)需要他，只要他能去，他立刻就去。

“如果我在那個區(qū)域，我扔下東西就跑過去，”他告訴巴克羅夫特。

文思希望他通過消防員基礎(chǔ)考試后可以進(jìn)入火場。

“在那之前，我很高興能在火場外幫忙并參加其他緊急情況的處理，”文思說，“但我知道我已經(jīng)具備了相應(yīng)的條件?！?/p>

他經(jīng)歷的最大的挑戰(zhàn)是在去年鄰居房子著火時。

“起火的房子離我家很近，我認(rèn)識里面的人。當(dāng)時我在外面，通過二樓的窗戶向里面射水，”他說，“那是第一次有我認(rèn)識的人出現(xiàn)在事故中。我真的很擔(dān)心?！?/p>

“遺憾的是，他們在火災(zāi)中失去了兩只德國牧羊犬，還好沒有人員傷亡。我知道我們盡了全力。能成為挽救他們生命中的一員，我很自豪?！?/p>