Standing in faith

MOSES LAKE — Moses Lake firefighter/paramedic Simon Rillera always knew his faith would carry him through difficult times. He just never knew how difficult.

Six years ago, he jumped on a motorcycle to take his girlfriend, now wife, Maria home, and ended up going down in a single-vehicle accident that resulted in the amputation of his left foot.

Life as he knew it changed, life as he knows it goes on, but his trust in God never wavered.

“I’ve always had that trust in God and I think that was probably the biggest thing is that I didn’t have to worry what the future would bring, because I knew that everything was OK,” said Rillera, sitting in the break room at Fire Station No. 1, where he’s on two days and off four. “I did read inspiring stories, but the one thing that really helped me out was a vision from God that said trust in him.”

In just six short years since the accident, he lives a life more enjoyable, more full than anything he could have ever planned. He married Maria, ran about 32 miles for his team in the 200-mile Ragnar Relay from Blaine to Whidbey Island with a prosthetic left foot, earned his diploma from the Washington State Fire Training Academy and went to work for the Moses Lake Fire Department as one of 26 full-time firefighters.

“Simon works very hard and excels in everything he does,” Capt. Brandon Burns said. “Simon doesn’t know the word ‘can’t.’ In his mind, it was something that happened and he overcame it. He is a very strong and mobile kid with a lot of drive that maybe some individuals in the fire service don’t have. He’s always pushing himself to do better.”

The firefighter side of the job is very physically demanding with the added weight of 75 to 100 pounds with the regular turnout gear and an pack on. Then there’s dragging hose, pulling sealing over uneven terrain.

“All of our people have to pass background with a medical portion, otherwise you don’t get hired,” Capt. Burns said. “It’s strenuous job, especially when you’re adding multiple pounds of gear added to working on uneven ground. So it’s very difficult at times, especially depending on what the heat’s doing outside, as well.”

It’s been one step at a time, Rillera said, but friends and family have been there every step of the way. A friend Ron Alford walked into the room shortly after the accident and slapped a magazine down on the bed about Amy Palmiero-Winters, who didn’t let an amputation after a motorcycle accident keep her from running. Rillera is one of 11 children in a large Catholic family, so his support system was strong there as well.

“The biggest adjustment is the amount of pain that happens with something like this. It’s not something that’s very comfortable,” Rillera explained. “What happens is that the nerve impulses to your foot go about halfway there and just spread out electrically and you get this pain that feels like you’re getting stabbed with a knife.”

Rillera has a prosthetic foot for everyday work and activities and an athletic blade that allows him to continue his running regimen and other athletic activities like the Battle of the Badges softball game earlier this summer to raise money for the Boys & Girls Club of the Columbia Basin.

“The technology with the prosthetics now is so advanced you can walk straight up a hill like before,” he said.

The prosthetic foot allows him to live a well-adjusted lifestyle, take on the rigors of firefighting and work as a paramedic.

“I put my pants on one leg at a time, just like everybody else. It’s just that when I wake up, my leg is already in my pants,” he said. “The fact I couldn’t do something never crossed my mind. It was just a matter of how was I going to do it.”

Maybe Henry Ford said it best: “If you think you can or you think you can’t, you’re right.”