When the breeze picks up on the lot on Beech and Market streets in Helena-West Helena, Misti Freeman Staley likes to think it's her son trying out his new lungs in heaven.
Staley's 10-month-old son, Freeman, died in February at Arkansas Children's Hospital in Little Rock of several complications, including respiratory problems.
To honor her son's brief life, Staley and her husband, Will, are building a handicapped-accessible playground at Beech and Market streets in the Phillips County town. Will Staley owns Thrive, a Helena-West Helena company that helps small businesses with marketing and strategic planning.
The couple were married in September 2010.
Freeman Playground will be the closest park for handicapped children within a 90-mile radius. The nearest one now is Miracle League Park in Jonesboro, which features a baseball field with a rubber surface.
The couple hopes to open the playground near downtown Helena-West Helena by the middle of autumn, Misti Staley said.
"We want Freeman's life to continue to inspire others," she said. "A lot of people cheered him on when he was in the hospital. He gave people hope. We want to continue making a difference in people's lives."
Freeman, born April 25, 2015, in Helena-West Helena, was the Staleys' first child. He lived at home for about five weeks before Misti Staley noticed that he was having difficulty breathing. The couple took him to Arkansas Children's Hospital where he was treated for several ailments.
He died Feb. 15.
While at the Little Rock hospital, the Staleys met several families with handicapped children, which gave them the idea for the playground.
It was a way to deal with the grief of losing their son, she said.
"It really went ahead when we got the land," Misti Staley said. "It was a scary first step."
Donations began pouring in. Contractors offered to put in sidewalks. Others cleared the lot. Local donors gave money to buy the playground lot.
The playground will cost about $360,000 when completed, Staley said. Of that, $130,000 is in donated labor.
"It's a positive thing they are doing out of a tragic situation," Helena-West Helena Mayor Jay Hollowell said. "The donations speak volumes for the quality of people who live here."
The Freeman Playground, just a few blocks from the Staleys' home, will feature an 8-foot-high fence around the park, dual racing slides, a spiral slide, rope-climbing equipment, ramps with panels for wheelchair accessibility, plastic tree stumps, 15-foot-tall cattail sculptures that include "talk tubes" that allow children to speak to one another from across the park, and rubber ground coverings.
It also will include a replica of the Mississippi River in green-and-blue rubber ground covering, along with trees for shade.
"It keeps me busy," Misti Staley said of her work on Freeman Playground. "I think about Freeman every day. This is a way to think that he's here with me, helping me put this playground together.
"I want to see kids happy and smiling here once we open it."
She said that when she stood on the lot during a recent hot day, she felt a cool breeze and felt her son's presence.
"I noticed the wind and thought it was Freeman practicing breathing fully with his new lungs in heaven," she said. "It was a good feeling."
Staley has created a Facebook page for Freeman Playground where people can check for updates about the park's progress.
"This will be a living legacy for Freeman," Hollowell said. "It's a great park, and it will really enhance our town. This is very impressive."
State Desk on 08/14/2016