Two Tuscaloosa friends search for family they helped in Florida

There’s a lot of bad in the news, so it’s always refreshing when something so positive gets so much attention.

Now, two Tuscaloosa men are searching for a family who recently made a huge impact on them while they were vacationing in St. Pete Beach, Florida, and they need all the help they can get tracking that family down.

Justin Johnson and Dustin Smalley are used to helping people thanks to their day jobs. But while they were at the beach, they helped in a different way — making sure a child with cerebral palsy could get out to the ocean.

“We saw the mother and a 13-to-14-year-old kid really struggling carrying (the child with cerebral palsy), so we saw that and just ran up to her and had to help them out,” Johnson said.

The girl’s wheelchair wasn’t equipped for sand, so Johnson and Smalley considered it a no-brainer and a small gesture to help out.

“I’ve never experienced anything like that before,” Smalley said. “It just made me happy to see my friends helping others.”  But the small gesture from Smalley and Johnson was a huge help to that family.

“That’s when she started crying and came back up to us, and I was like, ‘No, this is easy,’ ” Johnson said. But Johnson and Smalley said they’re the ones blessed by the situation.

“Every day there are 1,440 minutes in a day, so that means there are 1,440 opportunities to make a positive impact on people,” Johnson said.

After a day of fun in the sun, the men carried the young girl back up to her wheelchair at the beach entrance and parted ways with the family. But now that they’re back in Tuscaloosa, they said they just can’t shake the feeling of wanting to do more for her.

So they’ve decided to try and find that family and get them some sand adapters for the girl’s wheelchair.

And if they could say anything to that family, it would be this: “We saw the struggles you were going through, and we would love to help y’all,” Smalley said. “The joy that Justin and everyone saw on your daughter’s face that day, it made them happy. The world needs more love. So if we can make your life easier, why not?”

If you know any way to help Smalley and Johnson get in touch with the family they helped July 26 in St. Pete Beach, Florida, near Chris’ Beachside and Gulf Strand Resort, please reach out to WVUA 23 on social media or email [email protected].

This story was reprinted with permission from WVUA.

(Courtesy of Alabama NewsCenter)