Police dedicate their lives to looking after their communities, but one Kentucky cop just went above and beyond when he took legal guardianship of an 83-year-old man in his neighborhood.
Four years ago, Sgt. Jon Sterling of the Erlanger Police Department met a Korean War veteran named Norm from his neighborhood after he reported some suspicious activity.
“[Norm] lives alone and he lives in an area of the city that has pretty heavy traffic,” Sterling said. “He looks after his neighbors.”
“Whenever I would see him, we would just stop and talk,” said Sterling, who has been a cop for more than 20 years. “He’s a very smart person. He has a very interesting view on history and politics. I just loved talking to him.”
But recently, Sterling realized he hadn’t seen Norm in a very long time and stopped by his to check in when he saw social workers outside his home.
“He had lost a bunch of weight. It had been so long since I had seen him,” Sterling said. “His hair was as long as his beard. He really looked like he wasn’t taking care of himself. He literally had gotten smaller.” According to the social workers, the 83-year-old has dementia, and they determined he could no longer care for himself.
“He’s got a way about him that I really liked because I’m a little eccentric myself,” Sterling said. “So that’s kind of one of the ways we bonded.” Since Norm had no family to look after him, Sterling decided to become his legal guardian. “It doesn’t take any effort to care. Once Norm started down the road of not being able to take care of himself, it was the only logical step. You know, how could I not?”
Norm was checked into the hospital and was given food, IV fluids, and got cleaned up. “The short time he was in the hospital, he got his balance back; he got his color back,” Sterling said. “He got the fullness in his face. It really helped.” However, Norm will need full-time care and started a GoFundMe page so that he can afford the care he needs.
“I just put it out there hoping maybe somebody would maybe want to spend a few bucks and help Norm get the treatment he needs,” he said. “By God, did they ever.” In just one day, they raised their goal of $5,500 and within 11 days, they’ve raised more than $11,000.
Watch the entire video below to see the touching reason why this cop decided to become a legal guardian for an elderly man.
What would you have done if you were in this man’s situation? Let us know what you think in the comments below and please SHARE this with friends on Facebook.
[Featured image: Jon Sterling]
Cop Becomes Legal Guardian Of 83-Year-Old With Dementia is an article from: LifeDaily