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Ellisville man overcomes disability by serving ‘McSmiles'

He’s been working at McDonald’s since 1990.

There’s a rather special guy behind the counter at the McDonald’s in Ellisville.

“Welcome back, can I help you,” says Jamie Eyrich.

Jamie’s mother Sharon says, “he’s a miracle.”

Jamie Eyrich is deaf.

“He’s adopted and we didn’t know he was deaf until he was about two months old. Because, I’d go in in the morning and he wouldn’t be looking at me andhe wouldn’t be overjoyed to see me until he turned around and saw me. That’s when I knew,” says Sharon Eyrich.

The family moved to St. Louis so that Jamie could attend Central Institute for the Deaf.

“Helped me learn how to communicate with hearing people and deaf people,” says Jamie.

However, his childhood in the hearing world wasn’t always pleasant.

Sharon Eyrich says, “kids could be mean to him.”

Yet. He did not let the mean people or his disability hold him down.

“Hi welcome back and I help you,” says Jamie from behind the counter.

He’s been working at McDonald’s since 1990. The company has even recognized him for this work. And there isn’t a job he doesn’t do.

Jamie says, “lobby, drive thru, soda and front counter.”

To say Jamie is “out-going” is an understatement. Sharon says, “he should be a wall flower. But, he is anything but.”

“Thank you for coming to McDonald’s have a good day,” Jamie says from behind the counter.

The people who come into his restaurant love his personality.

“He’s just a pleasure. Just a pleasure,” says one customer.

“He brightens up the room when he walks in,” says another.

“He just knows how to communicate to touch people personally,” says his mom.

And they have let him know he’s appreciated with a bobble heads and pins. Lots and Lots of pins.

“I have nine hats full of pins,” says Jamie.

There’s no doubt that he is an inspiration.

“He’s incredible,” says one of his customers.

In a way, the love that Jamie shows others is also the example he sets for being able to overcome adversity.

Sharon says, “love prevails.”

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