BALLWIN, Mo. – He was paralyzed last year after being shot in the line of duty. On Tuesday, former Ballwin Police Officer Mike Flamion and his wife, Sarah, moved into their new specially adapted smart home, courtesy of the Gary Sinise Foundation.
The home is on Holloway Road near Manchester Road and not far from the Ballwin Police Department. The groundbreaking for the home took place in March.
Flamion, 34, was left paralyzed from the neck down after he was shot during a traffic stop in July of last year.
Much of the home can basically be operated from an iPad or from voice commands.
Using an iPad, Officer Flamion can do things like turn on lights, adjust thermostats, change channels on the television, watch outside security cameras and open doors.
Flamion can also control some features by voice activation.
There are also wider doors and hallways to help Flamion navigate the home easier in his wheelchair. There is a patio with an outdoor fireplace in the backyard as well. The fireplace has the Ballwin Police Department crest inscribed on it.
The house was donated as part of the Gary Sinise Foundation’s RISE program, which stands for Restoring Independence Supporting Empowerment. The foundation has been committed for some time to building or rehabbing homes for severely wounded veterans.
This is the first smart-home that the Gary Sinise Foundation has built for a first responder.
The foundation also revealed that it is going to build another smart home in Wildwood for double amputee veteran Army Sergeant LaGrand Strickland. Strickland lost both of his legs after an IED blew up in Afghanistan.
