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Currie, who joined the Windsor Fire Department on the same day as Copeland more than 15 years ago, spearheaded a remarkable effort to build a home that could accommodate the special needs of Copeland, gravely injured while responding to a call in March 2007 that left him with a 5 percent chance to survive, according to the doctors that first examined the horrific extent of injuries that kept him hospitalized for nearly 16 months.
That ended Sunday night, when Copeland – a remarkable basketball player, a point guard who “owns every provincial record that matters in Ontario,” Currie said – and his three children moved into their gorgeous new 2,800-square foot ranch on LeBouef Avenue.
When Copeland, 47, rounded the corner to a Fire Department escort at 4:30 p.m. Sunday, about 500 people lined the street, giving Copeland the hero’s welcome he deserved. The Copelands bounded out of their van and began the tour of their new home that was built in four days, starting from a concrete slab at 7 a.m. Thursday.
The blitz build was accomplished with the help of small companies and large corporations throughout Canada, the sweat equity of 1,000 volunteers and an assist from the Pistons.
When Currie contacted the organization Thursday morning and laid out the details – their love of the Pistons, the story of George’s service to Windsor and the accident that left him paralyzed from the neck down – the Pistons went to work.
Copeland’s determination to be as self-sufficient as possible requires a grueling five hours of physical therapy a day, a task that will be made a little easier for him in his workout room festooned with all manner of Pistons memorabilia.
Replicas of the retired jerseys of Pistons greats like Dave Bing, Bob Lanier, Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars hang from the ceiling. The walls are adorned with banners from the franchise’s three championship years, facsimilies of the three NBA championship trophies, framed autographed jerseys of Rip Hamilton and Tayshaun Prince, an autographed picture of Chauncey Billups, the framed front pages of the Detroit Free Press after each of the three NBA titles, a horizontal timeline poster of the franchise’s 50 years in Detroit and a banner that will speak to George Copeland every day as he goes about the business of keeping himself strong enough to maintain a house for his three children – Chad, 13, and twins Tira and Maxwell, 10.
“George,” the banner reads, “It’s Time to Go to Work.”
The workout room – the Palace Den, they call it – was the last stop on the tour as George and his children saw their new home for the first time. When they opened the door, Pistons All-Time Team member John Long emerged, presenting George with Pistons gear, then took his overwhelmed host back into the room where he’ll put in about a 40-hour work week.
“I know where my favorite room is,” Copeland said when the tour was over and he came back outside to greet the hundreds of people lining LeBouef Avenue. “My workout room is where I’m going to be spending a lot of time. I love the whole place. It’s absolutely fantastic. It’s beautiful.
“Wayne did a fantastic job. He knows we’re both dedicated Pistons fans. To have John here and the whole Pistons organization be a part of this is fantastic.”
“We were happy to do our small part in giving a great Pistons fan and a great Windsor firefighter the chance to be back home and be surrounded by his children,” said Tom Wilson, Palace CEO and president. “It’s a testament to his character that so many people responded so enthusiastically to the cause. If George’s love for the Pistons can help play a part in the motivation necessary to put in all the hard work required as part of his physical therapy, then we’re honored and absolutely thrilled to help out.”
It was Sierra Currie, Wayne’s 11-year-old daughter, who got the ball rolling on the homebuilding project, which quickly drew the support of the Greater Windsor Home Builders Association. The night Wayne Currie got the call that George’s fire engine had been involved in a serious accident near the Ambassador Bridge, he returned home from the heart-wrenching scene of the crash to find Sierra already working on an “Extreme Home Makeover” application for “Firefighter George.”
“I had to tell her, ‘I don’t know if Firefighter George is going to make it, honey,’ ” Wayne recalled Friday in the midst of the orchestrated chaos of the four-day build that was already well ahead of schedule. “There was a good possibility George might not have made it. But he came out of it and they got him off the respiratory equipment. I’d be able to go up and visit with his family and he was like, ‘I’ll be back.’
“I said, ‘I believe you.’ He couldn’t really speak yet, but George just said, ‘Have faith. You know me.’ I said, ‘You know what, George? I do.’ When he started in physical therapy, five hours of physical training a day, the man just had this attitude. He’s the most positive person I’ve ever met. He would say, ‘Time to go to work, men. I’ve got to go to work.’ ”
And when it was time for others to go to work for George, it wasn’t hard finding volunteers.
Kam Lauzon, a Windsor firefighter who joined the department a year before Copeland and Currie, was the volunteer coordinator for the homebuilding project. His task was to schedule 30 workers per shirt – four six-hour shifts beginning at 7 a.m. Thursday. When he showed up at 6 a.m. to start registering his volunteer workers, he had 60 eager hands.
“It’s a nice problem to have,” Lauzon laughed just before George and his family arrived. “Too many volunteers. We knew we would finish on time. Firefighters – never a doubt. Our department is a little less than 300. I honestly can’t think of one person who didn’t volunteer. The ones who weren’t here helping would volunteer to work extra shifts for those who had a skilled trade. So everybody did their part. What more could you ask for?”
It rained on every one of those six-hour shifts over the furious four days it took to build a home for George Copeland’s family.
“It was crazy,” Lauzon said. “It rained every four hours – and it lasted for three hours every time. On Thursday it held off until we just got the roof on. We just laughed.”
There was lots of laughter – and more than a few tears, too – when George’s family sunk roots in their beautiful new home on LeBouef Avenue. The community George Copeland dutifully served for 14 years was more than happy to go to work for him. And the Pistons were honored to play their small part in helping George go to work every day in the place he’s thrilled to call home.
