He and a couple of other cops - prompted by needs they often saw on the job - started an organization that provides new or reconditioned computers for disadvantaged kids and disabled adults to connect them to a wider world.

Our introduction came at the home of Carol Coveleskie, a quadriplegic who lived in Tampa's port area.

McDermott and his cohorts installed a computer for Coveleskie that provided her with some security and a link from her electric wheelchair that transported her via cyberspace to virtually any place in the world.

At one point during our time with Coveleskie, McDermott said, ``I can't imagine spending my life in a chair.''

Now, he must contemplate such a life.

Fortune Turns In A Blink

In November 2002, McDermott was in a head-on collision with a fleeing rape suspect.

One major back surgery and five minor procedures later, he is disabled and on a morphine pump for pain.

His first injury after three tours of duty in Vietnam and 25 years as a street cop ended his career and may put him in a wheelchair in a matter of years.

Before the accident, there were the job, of course, and home and family.

McDermott lives in Riverview with his wife, Pauline, and daughter Samantha, a junior at the University of South Florida with a 4.0 grade-point average heading for medical school.

Then, it was tough to fit everything in.

Now, all he has is time, he says.

So Cops and Computers for the Community - once a merely satisfying hobby that was a nice thing to do - has become, in a way, his life's work.

Time On His Hands

The nonprofit group, which has placed 400 computers in about 18 months, has space in two portable buildings on the grounds of East Tampa Christian Church in Clair- Mel City. The buildings have no electricity, no water.

The current location does provide access to a needy population that would have little opportunity otherwise to become computer literate.

But now that McDermott has more time to dream, the dreams have grown bigger.

He imagines the organization in a run-down strip center in a neighborhood that can use some help.

``Because we're such a street- level group, we'd love a storefront, particularly in a bad area. I want a place where an inner-city mother with three kids will feel comfortable visiting.''

He also envisions the kids visiting on their own - and the cops providing a positive role model.

Of course, the organization can't afford to rent the space. The group doesn't even have enough money to buy the software or the components necessary to update the used computers most often donated.

And, yes, they still need those used computers.

The group also need volunteers, particularly folks who can turn a pile of parts into a doorway to the future for a needy kid.

If you can help, visit the group's www.ccftc.org Web site.

Judy Hill can be reached at (813) 259-7812 or by writing her c/o The Tampa Tribune, P.O. Box 191, Tampa FL 33601.