An 88-year-old army veteran, who works five days a week at a supermarket to make ends meet, is to receive $1.7m (£1.3m) to help him retire.
While many of us dream of working towards a relaxing end to our working days, Ed Bambas was forced back into full-time work after losing his pension and funding medical bills for his sick wife.
Despite his age, he has been working eight-hour shifts, five days a week for the last five years at supermarket chain Meijer in Michigan, US – his main source of income.
Ed opened up about his financial struggles with Australian influencer Samuel Weidenhofer in a viral video, which has more than 9.3 million views and over 279,000 likes on Facebook.
In the video, Ed explains he retired from General Motors in 1999, but lost his pension in 2012 after the company went bankrupt.
He said he also lost his healthcare coverage, all while his wife was ill, and he was left with just $10,000 (£7,500) of his life insurance.
He described looking after his wife without healthcare insurance as ‘the thing that hurt me the most’.
Tearing up, Ed said: ‘So I sold my house, sold the property I had and we made it through.’
His wife died seven years ago, but he has since been ‘trying to reestablish myself’, working five days a week to make ends meet.
Samuel, who uses his platform to raise money for those in need, set up a GoFundMe after sharing Ed’s story.
The fundraiser, set up just four days ago, has already raised $1,742,513 (£1,305,820), surpassing its original target of $1m (£750,000).
It is hoped the money raised will go towards Ed’s retirement after he told Samuel he has dreams to ‘live a little of, somewhat, the life I was hoping for’.
Ed’s son, Michael Bambas, received messages from friends and family about his father’s viral video.
He said his dad struggled to find himself after his mother’s death.
‘Right after my mum passed away, I’d go over to the house and I’d find him basically walking around in circles, not knowing what to do with himself,’ Michael told NBC News.
He added: ‘He took care of my mum for almost 10 years as her primary caretaker.’
Michael said his dad looked for work following mounting medical bills.
He also said the money raised from GoFundMe will help his dad to ‘start living and doing things for himself’.
‘I don’t know how to thank everybody for what they’re doing for my dad. It’s just amazing, words can’t describe,’ he said.
Supermarket Meijer described Ed as a valued team member who connects with customers, adding joy and warmth to the shop.
The store added it would offer additional support for Ed as a result of the viral video and from public donations.
Samuel plans to surprise Ed with the funds at a ceremony on Friday.
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