Crystal Prytula and her three children, woke up on a recent Saturday morning to a cold house. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, with Michigan’s “stay home,” order severely limiting non-essential travel and only days after her husband left on an overseas deployment, she found herself with a broken furnace that neither Google nor Youtube search results could help her repair.
“During this crazy pandemic it’s very hard to find help,” Prytula said. “Kids in the house, with no heat [leads to] sickness, and [going to] a hospital is a very frightening thought.”
After calling several businesses, Prytula found repair workers unable to immediately respond and assessing $175 surcharges due to the pandemic travel restrictions. So, she dusted off the phone number of a resource she hadn’t yet used in her 12 years as a military spouse: 127th Wing’s Airman and Family Readiness program.
Paulus Obey, program manager, responded to Prytula’s call in five minutes, dispatching the issue to members of the Selfridge Family Support Group. Larry Jayroe, president of the group, volunteered his expertise by responding to the call, personally.
“He’s just a really good handyman,” Obey said of Jayroe’s second voluntary furnace repair this year.
For Prytula and her children, Jayroe was more than just a handyman.
“He saved this Mama from a truly frightening situation, and I appreciate him so much for doing what he did,” Prytula said.
While Tech. Sgt. Dustin Prytula was navigating his 11th overseas deployment in support of the 127th Wing’s global mission, his wife was navigating an emergency home repair in the midst of a global pandemic.
“Thank you, Family Support [Group] for having a system like this that helps us out,” Prytula said. “And thank you for having amazing guys like Larry on your team.”