A Port Aransas high school senior received what he calls, a life-changing graduation gift, from his school resource officer. Sean Merritt, who has lived in Port Aransas for 14 years, was surprised with a brand new electric wheelchair, organized by Port Aransas Independent School District School Resource Officer Brett Boyer.
"I was born with cerebral palsy. And I was diagnosed when I was about one or two years old," Merritt said.
The Port Aransas High School senior has navigated through his whole life in an electric wheelchair, but his old one was showing significant wear and tear.
"I've kind of learned to accept that it's more of a growing experience than it is something I should be upset about. It's something that kind of makes me more grateful for the smaller things," Merritt said.
Boyer noticed the condition of Merritt's wheelchair at a school basketball game in October 2024 and decided to take action. He immediatley wrote down the name of the weelchair brand, which operates out of Houston, and he contacted them the next day.
"The chair that he was currently in was in pretty bad shape. He's had it for a long time, got a good use out of it, but he needed an upgrade," Boyer said.
Officer Boyer reached out to fellow Port Aransas community members to help fund the new wheelchair.
"I went out and talked to my good friends and people of the neighborhood and the community, and explained the situation, and before I could get past 'Sean Merritt,' which is Sean's name, they were all in," Boyer said.
Merritt was presented with the new wheelchair during Senior Scholarship Night on May 9, 2025, catching him completely by surprise.
“Officer Boyer surprised me with this brand new wheelchair he got together, and I don’t know how they kept it a secret for so long! I guess they’ve been plotting on me for, I think I heard since October, so yeah, no apparently it’s been awhile. But it was a great surprise. I didn’t know how to react," Merritt said. "It was exciting! It definitely caught me off-guard, 100 percent."
The new wheelchair comes with several upgrades that will improve Merritt's daily life.
"It's got bluetooth speakers on it, which is also an upgrade!" Merritt said.
The chair also reclines and is more lightweight, features that Merritt say will help him as he transitions to college in a few months.
Despite moving on to the next chapter in his life, Merritt appreciates the tight-knit Port Aransas community that has supported him.
"We're all pretty much like a family. We've all known each other for years. So, it's very tight-knit, and close," Merritt said.
For Merritt, the unconditional support from his community reinforces what home truly means.
"A home is where you make it, but it's the people that make it, that's what really makes it a home," Merritt said.
Merritt plans to attend UTSA to major in psychology.
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