Serving Lucas, Ottawa, Sandusky and Wood Counties
Nourm G. Freyer, a Woodmore High School graduate who has worked for the Toledo Mud Hens for over 15 years while living with spina bifida, will be featured on two billboards in Woodville during the month of October for National Disability Employment Awareness Month.
He was selected through his association with the Sandusky County Board of Developmental Disabilities (SCBDD), and his father, Nourm C. Freyer, said he believes his son is the only person in the whole county to be featured.
“He’s been associated with them for a long time,” Nourm C. Freyer said. “They’ve come out and done interviews with him, just yearly checkups and different things (over the years). They approached him and said, ‘Would you like to be on a billboard?’ And that's how the whole thing got rolling.”
They found out the news in July.
“They asked me if I wanted to be on a billboard, and I'm like, ‘Yeah, why not?’ It was awesome,” Nourm G. Freyer said.
Nourm G. Freyer, who is 34 years old, was born with spina bifida, which is a birth defect where a child’s spine doesn’t close completely during embryonic development.
He hasn’t let that hold him down, though. In 2007, he began working with the SCBDD, and in 2008, he began working at Sandco Industries.
A short time later in 2009, however, Nourm G. Freyer began working as a ticket taker with the Toledo Mud Hens. He primarily works in the suite entrance, where he checks credentials.
“The Mud Hens are a lot more fun,” he said.
In his job, he gets to interact with the scouts, who have helped him build up his hat collection, which is one of his big passions along with sports and video games. One time, he even got to try on a World Series ring, and he’s a big Yankees fan, which was born out of following Derek Jeter as a kid.
“They know me everywhere I go pretty much,” Nourm G. Freyer said. “It's really fun. I love working for the Mud Hens. It's great. I have a great boss. I work with awesome people. I love it.”
The younger Freyer once worked a no-hitter, but one of his most fun recent memories working with the Mud Hens was working the cosmic baseball promotion Aug. 22-23, which he said was awesome.
“I'm proud of him for the way that he's held his job,” Nourm C. Freyer said. “(His story) shows other people that just because you have a disability, it doesn't hold you back from doing what you really want to do.”
One thing Nourm G. Freyer doesn’t do well with is loud noises. On the rare night that he’s working outside and it’s a fireworks night, his boss will make sure he’s indoors in a location where the sound isn’t a problem.
Because of his spina bifida, the issue with loud noises comes from having a shunt in the back of his head.
In people without spina bifida, the fluid in the spinal cord flows naturally through the body and diminishes. The shunt takes the fluid off the brain and pushes it down into the stomach, where it disperses through his abdomen.
Freyer Jr. said he has trouble getting to some places because of the spina bifida.
“I have a walker so I can walk with my walker,” he said. “I can get most places with my wheelchair, but there are some places I can't. That's a bit of a bummer.”
He hasn’t let it hold him back, though.
“I would just say if you think you can do it, you probably can,” he said. “Don’t let anything hold you back.”
He is thankful for his family and friends.
“The Sandusky County Board of Developmental Disabilities, they've helped me, and obviously my parents, (too),” Nourm G. Freyer said. “I have friends that come around and call me every day pretty much and check on me and make sure I'm alright. Family and friends are big.”
Nourm C. Freyer said his son makes a lot of friends, and he has even gotten recognized while on family trips to see Myrtle Beach Pelicans and Charleston River Dogs games.
“I saw these people down there and then I came back up and saw them here, and I'm like, ‘Are you following me?’” Nourm G. Freyer joked.
Nourm C. Freyer said his son has a big fan base.
“They seem to go up to customer service and say, ‘Hey, is Nourm working today? Where’s he at? He’s not in the suites.’ They move him once in a while, and they’ll look him up (for them).”
Outside of the Mud Hens, Nourm G. Freyer collects hats, and his father said he has well over 100 at home. He also likes to watch sports, talk to friends, and play video games. He especially loves Madden but will play pretty much anything sports related on his PS4 — except soccer and golf.
“Those are like watching paint dry,” he said.
His father said his son’s sport interests are probably ranked baseball, football, and then hockey.
“It’s joyful to see how people in the community associate with him, especially the Mud Hens fans since that's his main job,” Nourm C. Freyer said.
Another thing Nourm G. Freyer enjoys is playful trash talk. For example, when getting his hair cut at Ryan and Tony’s Barber Shop in Millbury, he’ll debate the North Carolina-Duke rivalry as Ryan is a North Carolina fan and he is a Duke fan.
“When we go in there, I'm not saying it's a war, but it's almost a war because they're always on each other,” Nourm C. Freyer joked.
After hearing the news about the billboards, it was joked to Ryan that he has a celebrity coming in there, and Ryan said: “Oh, now your head’s getting so big it ain’t going to fit through that door.”
And since he’s a Yankees fan, Nourm G. Freyer told Tony that he’s just waiting for his call to the Yankees.
So, Nourm G. Freyer’s answer to the question of whether or not he is ready for any additional fame that may come from being on the billboards shouldn’t be too surprising.
“Yeah, bring it,” he said.
