Police officer films 3 young men helping elderly woman: 'She could have been my grandmother'
A police officer filmed three young men helping an 89-year-old woman who was struggling near her car, and more than 4 million people have watched the video of the good deed.
Officer Kenesha Carnegie of the Levy County Sheriff’s Office in Bronson, Fla., was in Williston on Monday when she saw the friends helping Rose Griest, 89, get into her car, which her 100-year-old husband, David, had parked at a gas station. The couple of 20 years stopped to use the restroom on their way home from Perry to Orlando, where Rose had a medical appointment.
“I look over and three men were assisting the couple — it was a beautiful thing to see,” says Carnegie, who recognized the men, Joc Koe Stoe, Marty and Freddy G. She walked over to supervise but hung back, asking for permission to film. “I know these men from the neighborhood, and I wanted them to have that moment to show who they really are,” Carnegie tells Yahoo Lifestyle.
In Carnegie’s video, two of the men steady Rose as she struggles to stand, while David holds her hand. They maneuver Rose into the passenger’s seat and a third man helps David with his walker. “Thank you so much fellas,” David can be heard saying. “I’m 100 years old.”
“Take it easy,” said one of the men, as David gets into the driver’s seat.
Marty tells Yahoo Lifestyle that the friends, who are all rappers, were grabbing chips and soda at the gas station when they saw David and Rose through a window. “We didn’t even ask if they needed help — we felt comfortable giving them a hand right away,” says the 30-year-old. “I kept thinking, ‘She could have been my grandmother.’ 100 years old is a beautiful life.”
Stoe, 26, tells Yahoo Lifestyle that Rose was exhausted from using the store’s bathroom: “She was so tired, she could barely walk.”
David and Rose’s grandson, Tommy Griest, 42, was surprised to see his grandparents on Facebook. “I was scrolling through and saw my grandmother’s purple outfit,” he tells Yahoo Lifestyle. “Praise these guys for helping them.”
Tommy and his wife, Chastity, want to thank the men and Officer Carnegie for helping their grandfather, who is a former lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army, and his wife.
“I don’t think they even know about the video,” says Tommy of his grandparents, who don’t use social media. “It would make them happy.”
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