“We have to help each other and helping each other helps all of us,” said Hurst.
Katy Hurst was getting some food at an Independence, MO Burger King when she saw a sight that she could not ignore.
A man was sitting inside the restaurant weeping.
“I pulled around to wait for my order and he was there and he broke down crying,” Hurst told KMBC.
Hurst says she eventually learned the frail 57-year-old’s name was Pops.
“I saw him crying, he broke down and I didn’t know who this person was,” Hurst told FOX 43. “I had seen him through the community. He used to have a bike with a cart.”
Source:
KMBC Screenshot
Pops, who suffers from constant pain, told KMBC that he was praying for an angel and God to help “take him home.”
“I told him there’s a place at the table he set for me, I’m hungry, I’m ready to eat…if there’s room prepared for me, I’d like to come home,” he said.
But Hurst told him he wasn’t going “home” and that his life wouldn’t be ending that day.
“I was lonely, I was sad, I kept having one bad time after the next,” he told FOX 43.
Source:
YouCaring
Hurst let Pops stay at her place that day and found out that he had been beaten and robbed several times and was suffering from several injuries and broken bones. She also took him to the hospital.
“He said, ‘I have a broken collarbone, I have broken ribs, I’ve been beaten up,’” Hurst told FOX 43. “He needed somebody to step in and help him. That’s what I did.”
Hurst took to Facebook and asked the community to donate money, clothing, and other items to get Pops back on his feed.
“Pops needs our help to show him that this world is still full of good people!” the YouCaring donation page reads.
So far, more than $5,700 has been raised for his medical costs. Pops also got a nice haircut, a hot bath, and several good meals.
Source:
YouCaring
“He was very nice and a soft-spoken gentleman,” said hairstylist Pamela Denson. “He said all he did was pray. The only way he knew how to ask for help was to pray.”
Hurst hopes to raise enough money to find some housing for Pops and a means for him to start a new life.
You can make a donation to help out Pops here.
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By D.G. Sciortino
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D.G. is a contributing writer in Shareably. She's based in Connecticut and can be reached at [email protected].