Dispatch Tribune 5/05

Parkville Contractor
KC hero makes prime-time debut on reality TV

In his prime-time debut on national television, Parkville contractor Kevin Green seemed passionate and motivated to build a glamorous home for a local hero in only five days.

In real life, Green said, there was more than that.

“It’s a part of the KC spirit,” Green said. “What a great story to tell.”

Green was the featured contractor on the Sunday, May 8, episode of ABC’s “Extreme Makeover: Home Edition.” The television network contacted him in February to build a home for Stephen Johnson. 8211 E. 79th St.

Johnson is a Kansas City firefighter and local hero, credited with leading a team of firefighters through gunfire to rescue a woman who had been shot. He’s also a single father of five – including two adopted children – who lived in a cramped house in southern Kansas City.

Nearly 15 million American tuned in to watch the Johnson’s inadequate brick house get swapped for a two-story dream home. In Kansas City, thousands of people who gawked at exterior construction during the show’s April filming got their first opportunity to see inside the extravagant home.

The Johnson family was nominated for the home makeover by Metropolitan Ambulance Service Trust paramedic Mary Seymour, whose life Johnson helped save on February 23, 2004.

“It’s a small thank you,” Seymour said. “You can never pay anything back for someone saving your life.”

In Kansas City, Bank of Blue Valley and Union Station teamed u to air the show on the giant Vic and Helen Regnier City Extreme Screen inside Union Station. The Johnson family and Green were among hundreds in attendance.

Johnson thanked the crowd. “You guys made it happen,” he said. “We love you for it.”

But Johnson said the new house and the honor came second to something much more important.

“(Mary’s) walking around and breathing, able to hug her kids tonight, that means more than anything to me,” Johnson said.

Though it feels like home, Johnson said, he is still adjusting to the major fits, which include four-year scholarships to the University of Missouri-Kansas City for all five Johnson children, a Ford Mustang convertible and a backyard statue honoring Johnson.

“It’s hard to accept things,” he said. “This is one by one. I’m getting used to it.”

And though Green speculated Johnson probably would get several marriage proposals after the shows airing, Johnson’s older sister put her foot down.

“Big sis says ‘no,’” Liuvi Johnson of Grandview said. “She’s going to have to be a heck of a woman.”