Brightly colored flags mark boy's utility line locator-themed birthday

SOUTH BEND, INDIANA — Who needs balloons when you can have flags? Who needs superheroes when you can have a utility line locator crew?

A boy with special needs received a very special birthday surprise. Nathan was born premature with a number of health problems. Like a lot of kids with special needs, he has a unusual fixation. For Nathan it’s an obsession with utility line locator flags.

“Call 811,” explained Josh Scheibelhut of USIC. “We show up and mark the lines on the ground.”

And they mark those utility lines with bright colored flags. Flags that caught Nathan’s eye.

“Nathan has been fixated on flags for probably two years,” said his mother, Lisa. “ And it was one of those fixations that just never went away.”

One time he even took off looking for flags in the neighborhood.

“One day I ran away and I stole a whole bunch of these,” admitted Nathan. “But the police said ‘don't worry’ and they never threw them away. I still have them.”

“He was gone for about an hour and a half,” exclaimed his mother.

Nathan’s mom reached out to USIC and told them about her son's unusual obsession.

“We thought that was the coolest thing ever,” said Scheibelhut. “Because a lot of kids idolize police officers or firemen, we don't get a lot of credit for what we do. Wow! This kid thinks we're awesome.”

“Yeah, I want to be one of them one day,” said Nathan.

USIC invited Nathan to their Christmas party and set him up with plenty of flags. The employees enjoyed it so much, they decided to surprise Nathan with a birthday party complete with an 811 cake, spray paint and flags. Plenty of flags. Utility locator Chris Stamm let Nathan mark his family's front yard and quizzed him along the way.

“What’s orange?” asked Stamm.

“Communication,” answered Nathan.

“What’s yellow?”

“Buried gas line.”

“What’s red?”

“Indicating power lines.”

“Yeah, he knows his stuff,” said Scheibelhut. “He knows what the colors mean. The special flags he knows what to do with them. It's incredible.”

The crew also provided Nathan with blank paperwork that they use in the field so that he can “practice.”

“He's doing math,” said Nathan’s mother. “He's doing reading. All because he knows this is what he wants to do someday.”

Nathan admits he has a lot to learn, especially his spray painting techniques.

“One time I sprayed the house,” admitted Nathan. “One time I sprayed the concrete and the tree. But then I got in trouble.”

Nathan has learned to ask before he sprays and call before you dig.

“A lot of people don't know what we do,” said Scheibelhut. “He's like a little spokesman out there telling everybody about utility locating.”

For Nathan, these guys are heroes.

“They save a lot of people,” said Nathan. “Look, did you know it's actually the law, if you don't call if you hit something? It's gonna be your fault if you don't call and they dig and hit something.”

These heroes make their mark with kindness.

Cox Media Group