.jpg)
Wlaf1450A NOTE FROM THE GRAND ON CENTRAL: “There is so much good going on in our community, and I want to share all this good with you every Monday here on WLAF in hopes that you will start your week in a grand way making each week a Grand Week,” said Olivia Lobertini, owner of The Grand on Central.
The community comes together for Greg Vincent to come home. See the full photo gallery of the building of a ramp for the Vincent home from WLAF’s Charlie Hutson.
By Charlotte Underwood
LAFOLLETTE, TN (WLAF)- Two church groups, along with other members of the community, have come together over the past couple of months to help get Coach Greg Vincent’s home ready for his return after a six-month hospital and rehabilitation stay.
The men’s groups from First Baptist Church of LaFollette and the men’s group from Fincastle Church came together to build a wheelchair ramp at Vincent’s house on May 16th.
Pastor Phil Fischbach from the First Baptist Church of LaFollette said he and the deacons from his church as well as the men’s group from Fincastle wanted to help Greg and his family after the tragic accident.
“We were talking about what can we do to help Greg and at the same time, Pastor Steve Evans and his group from Fincastle were talking about the same thing.
“We just want to be a blessing to the Vincent family,” Pastor Fischbach said.
The two groups came together and made it happen to make things easier on the Vincent family so Greg could come home. Greg and his wife Sharyn attend First Baptist Church where Greg is a Deacon and both “are longtime active members.”
Greg Vincent was injured in a “horrible accident”, falling 30 feet from a tree while removing an old deer stand off his property back on January 26th.
He has had several surgeries and has been recuperating in Chattanooga where his daughter Jennifer Vincent lives. Greg has been going through months’ worth of rehabilitation and is expected to return home to Campbell County, with his discharge date set for July 22 and a public homecoming planned.
According to Jennifer, “the entire community has come together for us and building the ramp is just one of the ways that people have helped.”
“So many things have been done for us behind the scenes, and we are grateful for everyone. The fact that he’s still here has encouraged the community; it was miraculous that he survived and a lot of that has to do with the great doctors we had at UT Medical Center. They had to sew his diaphragm back together, his lungs were collapsed, most of his ribs were broken,” Jennifer Vincent said.
The first responders that attended to Greg at the scene of the accident were people the family knew.
“They acted very quickly to get him off of that mountain. They were taking their time because they were worried about spinal injuries, but when his stats started dropping because his lungs were collapsed, they went into hyperdrive and that was the first of many things that saved his life,” Jennifer said.
She said the family knew there would be a lot of things that had to be done to the house for him to be able to come back home.
Greg and his wife Sharyn went down to Chattanooga where their daughter lives to do all the therapy.
“Which means my mom is not at the house to meet with people to work on things, so the fact that they just took it upon themselves to show up and build a ramp for us, because otherwise, there would be no way to get him in the house. I think sometimes when we live in a small town, we forget how strong our community is until something tragic happens and I think that it is something that we forget to be grateful for until a tragedy happens. People have helped us in so many ways, outside of the ramp, in my community and in my parent’s community,” Jennifer said.
She said it would not be possible for her dad to come home to his community without all the help the family has had renovating the house, from a wheelchair ramp being built, to having their shower and doors modified and more.
“The fact that a group of men came and dedicated as much time as they did to make sure my father could return to his home, it means a lot to us,” Jennifer said.
She said her father is so grateful as well.
“He knows he was on the brink of death more than once, and he is very grateful as well. We appreciate all the acts of service and love that the community has shown us,” Jennifer said.
A NOTE FROM THE GRAND ON CENTRAL: “There is so much good going on in our community, and I want to share all this good with you every Monday here on WLAF in hopes that you will start your week in a grand way making each week a Grand Week,” said Olivia Lobertini, owner of The Grand on Central.
For bookings, email Olivia Lobertini at ohlobertini03@gmail.com. Check on avails HERE. (WLAF NEWS PUBLISHED-07/20/2026-6AM-PHOTOS FROM WLAF’S CHARLIE HUTSON)