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Block House man builds tank of dreams for nephew

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Ryan Ruddick's eyes lit up like it was Christmas morning last Friday when his family pulled into the Turner residence in Block House Creek.

“This is awesome,” the 11-year old said. “It's better than I ever expected.”

Ruddick wasn't talking about his aunt and uncle's house that was elaborately decorated for Halloween with a pirate ship, scarecrows, talking skeletons, a haunted house in the back yard and more decorations than most folks display at Christmas. Ruddick was in awe of a tank.

“He and his family were here over the summer and we were talking about Halloween,” said Scott Turner. “Last year all he did was pass out candy at his parents store. When I asked him if he could do anything he wanted for Halloween, he said he wanted to drive a tank.”

Ruddick, who lives with his family in Chico, Texas, a small town northwest of Fort Worth, was diagnosed with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy when he was 17-months old. He was able to walk from the age of 2 until he was 7. Now he's in a wheelchair. Scott Turner took it upon himself to grant his nephew's wish.

Turner bought a model tank and designed a much bigger one based on the model. The finished product was 14 feet, 5 inches long, about 5 feet tall and 5 feet wide. It was constructed so Ruddick could maneuver his electric wheelchair into the tank from the rear until it stopped at the front. It took Turner a month and a half to construct it.

The base is a 1 foot by 2 foot wood frame with sheets of foam cut to supply the wall. The wheels are made of pottery bases with 2-foot plastic siding strips around them. The hatches are made of trash can lids. The gun turrets are made of cardboard rolls and everything was painted Army green.

“Ryan has been talking about this ever since Scott said he was going to build it,” Ryan's mother, LeeAnn Ruddick, said. “I think it's really amazing.”

Before Ryan manned his battle station, err, trick-or-treatmobile, he put on his camouflage shirt that had Ruddick stitched on it, wore his dog tags that had his name on them and donned his battle headgear. He was dressed as a soldier, and he turns 12 on Nov. 12 - the day after Veterans Day.

Ryan then wheeled into the tank and drove the Block House Creek subdivision. He would stop in front of a house and then wheel backwards from the tank, go to the front door and ask for tricks or treats, then get back into his tank for more Halloween fun.

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