A regular customer at the Shrimp Basket restaurant in Pensacola, Florida, has made it his habit for the past decade to come in at 11 am every day to order a cup of gumbo for his lunch.
The staff at the restaurant said the man was like a grandfather figure to them. They even threw him a birthday party for his 78th birthday several months ago, so after the loyal customer missed his lunch for a few days in a row, his absence was noticed.
Staff from the restaurant tried calling him, but got no answer. Eventually, a cook at the restaurant, Donnell Stallworth, became very worried and decided to go to the man's house and check up on him.
Stallworth told WEAR what happened next, saying,
I was like, you know, man, Imma go by his house. So I just left work, went to his house, and I knocked on the door like two times, and he didn't, he didn't answer. The third time I knocked on it and I didn't hear nothing.
I kind of stayed up for a minute, and I knocked, and I heard him like, 'help' and 'who is it?' And I would say, 'This is Donell.' He's like, 'Come in.'
When he came inside, Stallworth saw the elderly man lying on the floor, where he had apparently been for days after suffering a fall and several broken ribs. The gumbo cook said he was heartbroken seeing his friend lying there so helpless, and he immediately called 911.
The man was taken to the hospital and later to a rehab facility, where he is on the road to recovery.
Stallworth has been faithful to visit him, telling reporters there's just one thing left for him to do,
Go check on him, put that smile back on his face, and probably take him a thing of gumbo.
There's not much a cup of gumbo can't cure, including a few broken ribs!
Here's his story on the local news:
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