The elderly cashier had been forced back into full time work after losing both his pension and his wife, whose medical bills left him financially devastated
An elderly Army veteran who captured the hearts of millions is set to retire at last after a viral video prompted strangers around the world to raise nearly $1.5 million dollars for him.
The extraordinary gift will be presented to Ed Bambas, 88, on Friday in a surprise ceremony at the Michigan grocery store where he still works full time.
His son Michael said his dad has been deeply moved by the compassion shown to him and remains unaware of the final amount waiting for him.
Speaking to The New York Post, Michael said: “I know what this is going to mean to him and that it’s going to change his life immensely. He’s finally going to enjoy life and not have to worry about, you know, where the next dollar is gonna have to come from.”
Ed’s story began spreading online after Australian influencer Samuel Wiedenhofer met him while filming at a Meijer supermarket in Brighton, New York.
The elderly cashier explained he had been forced back into full time work after losing both his pension and his wife, whose medical bills left him financially devastated.
He told Wiedenhofer he had retired from General Motors in 1999, only for the company’s bankruptcy in 2012 to wipe out his pension. He also lost his health care coverage and most of his life insurance payout, leaving him struggling to survive.
“The thing that hurt me the most was when my wife was really sick and when they took the pension, they also took the health care coverage and all but $10,000 of my life insurance,” Ed said in the emotional video.
After his wife Joan died seven years ago, he returned to a 40 hour workweek and eventually secured the cashier job he has held for the past five years.
“I’m fortunate God gave me a good enough body to be strong enough to stand here for eight, eight and a half hours a day,” he told WXYZ.
Wiedenhofer launched a GoFundMe on Monday, and donations poured in at a pace neither father nor son could believe.
As of Wednesday night, it had surpassed $1.443 million dollars, with contributions from nearly 50,000 donations and more than 36,000 supporters, including Charlie Puth and Russell Dickerson.
“Holy crap!” Michael exclaimed when told the total. “It’s just amazing. Both of us are pretty much amazed at how this affected people around the world.”
Michael said his father still has “no idea how much money is in the account,” and will be stunned when the funds are handed to him. A ceremony is planned at the store on Friday, alongside a special presentation hosted by a local veterans group.
“Since my mom passed, I’ve been trying to help him where I can financially, so it’s going to be a major burden taken away,” Michael said. “He’s gonna have a lot of relief in all this.”
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