We’ve seen plenty of completely able-bodied asswipes call 911 to order grub because they got too drunk or high. However this 81-year-old man in despair called 911 for food because he had absolutely no other choice.
After more than a year in the hospital for cancer treatment, Clarence Blackmon returned to his apartment in Fayetteville, North Carolina. His prostate cancer has hobbled him and he can barely walk. It’s so crippling that his doctor gave him “maybe another six months” to live.
The Army veteran came home to discover that he had no food. Blackmon had no family living nearby and no way to get to the grocery store. With no options at his disposal, the elderly man was forced to make a desperate call to 911 for help.
“What I need is someone to get to the store and bring me some food so I can have something to eat,” Blackmon told the 911 operator. “I can barely walk without holding onto a chair.”
Marilyn Hinson, the dispatcher, graciously jotted down the man’s grocery list which included a head of cabbage, two bananas, a can of beets, a can of green beans, tomato juice, three Pepsis, some processed ham and, his “absolute favorite,” popcorn. He promised her that he had the money to pay her back. Hinson and Fayetteville police officers delivered the items to his door. She even stayed around and made him a few sandwiches.
Blackmon’s plight quickly went viral and now the phone hasn’t stopped ringing with people offering food and help. “We had numerous calls, emails, folks calling us directly, calling the call center, calling 911 saying, “How can we help Mr. Blackmon,'” Fayetteville Officer Antoine Kincade said.
Blackmon has been overwhelmed by the support, and now wants the donations to go to the Salvation Army charity, “I want everyone that goes hungry, or lives under a bridge, at least they can go to the Salvation Army. They can get some good food.”
A DSS social worker spent several hours with Blackmon on Wednesday, and he will be getting a home health nurse this week.
“It was like a little miracle ringing in my ear,” Blackmon said. “I thought, ‘Jesus, you’ve answered all those prayers.'”
[ABC11]