Stranger Gives Last Generator to Crying Woman at Lowe's

An act of kindness before Hurricane Irma hits
By Josh Rosenblatt,  Newser Staff
Posted Sep 9, 2017 12:18 PM CDT
As Irma Approaches, Stranger Offers Generator to Woman
Pam Brekke hugs Ramon Santiago at a Lowes in Orlando.   (Facebook/Nancy Alvarez WFTV)

As Florida prepares for what is shaping up to be the worst hurricane in the state's history, an Orlando woman has found herself the beneficiary of a little unexpected kindness from a stranger. On Thursday, Pam Brekke drove 30 miles to a Lowe's after she heard the store had received a surprise shipment of 216 generators that morning, WFTV reports. Brekke's 87-year-old father-in-law has congestive heart failure and is dependent on an oxygen tank, and she was worried for his safety if the power were to go out during the storm. By the time Brekke arrived at the store, however, the last generator had been claimed. She burst into tears, and that's when fellow customer Ramon Santiago approached her and offered her the generator from his cart, the last in the store. (See video here.)

"She need the generator," said Santiago, who doesn't speak much English. "It's OK. No worry for them." By chance, a TV news anchor at Orlando's WFTV, Nancy Alvarez, was in line at the time and captured video of Santiago and a tearful Brekke embracing, People reports. That footage went viral, and soon, Alvarez says, "people all over the country" were contacting her wanting to help. In the end, though, Alvarez returned to the store to film a second report, this one showing Santiago receiving a just-delivered generator from the store's managers. (More Hurricane Irma stories.)

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