LITTLETON, Colo. — It’s been said when you see the world through the eyes of a child, there’s wonder everywhere.
“This is so awesome,” 7-year-old Macie said, as she explored the interior of her family’s new Dodge Durango.
To better understand what Macie is doing, we must first take you back to when we first introduced you to John McGuire and his family at their home in Fort Collins a few days before Christmas.
“That’s me as a young buck sergeant,” John McGuire said, pointing to old photographs of himself in his military uniform. “I was a paratrooper with the airborne infantry. I did five total tours between Iraq and Afghanistan.”
Service that didn’t come without sacrifice.
“[I have] some shrapnel in my hip, deaf in one ear. I had a traumatic brain injury,” John McGuire said. “I’m a purple heart recipient. A bronze star recipient.”
McGuire also has a bad pancreas which he has flushed at least every three months.
Yet he and his wife, Jess, continue to open their hearts and their home, including adopting 7-year-old Macie and her 5-year-old brother, Abel.
“These kids. They deserve better than the cards they were dealt,” John McGuire said.
His military friends thought he would be a perfect candidate for our Denver7 Gives series, and the staff at Denver7 agreed.
The donations poured in around Christmas and they were recently presented with a $12,000 check to purchase a Dodge Durango at Peak Kia in Littleton. The family recently lost their vehicle to a crash.
“I’m so stinkin’ excited,” Jess McGuire said.
“This is great,” John McGuire said. “This is exactly what we needed.”
“I heard you wanted a Durango, so we found you one,” Peak Kia sales manager Sean Simpson said. “I had my best mechanic look at this and he said, 'This is one of the cleanest he’s seen.'”
Simpson and his team even threw in new jackets for the family.
It's a new beginning for a deserving family.
“We have to get your car seats, guys,” Jess McGuire said.
And pure joy through the eyes of Macie and Abel who spent several minutes crawling over the seats and exploring their new ride.
“It’s the nicest thing I think anyone has ever done for us,” Jess McGuire said.
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