A homeless veteran, who received
a reward he never expected after he spent his last $20 to help a
stranded woman buy gas, now says he wants to touch other people's lives
the way his was touched.
Marine Corps
vet Johnny Bobbitt reunited with the woman he helped, Kate McClure, for
the first time on TV in a heartwarming interview that aired Sunday on "Good Morning America."
McClure,
27, has raised more than $360,000 for Bobbitt after he helped her buy
gas when her car broke down on the I-95 exit ramp near Philadelphia.
Bobbitt, 34, said he's been "overwhelmed" by people's generosity.
"I
just got her gas to help her get back on her way. I didn't think
anything about it. I wasn't expecting anything in return," he told "Good
Morning America." "That's how I got the money to start with -- from
other people. [I had to] return the favor. I can't constantly take and
not give back."
McClure, who ironically works
for the New Jersey Department of Transportation, was driving into
Philadelphia's Center City district to meet a friend about two months
ago, she told "Good Morning America."
It was close to midnight and she was driving alone on I-95 when her car ran out of gas as she was on an exit ramp.
"I
pulled over to the side of the road as far as I could and I was going
to get out and walk to the nearest gas station because it was not that
far away, and that's when I met Johnny," she said. "He walked up and he
said, 'Get back in the car. Lock the doors. I'll be back.' I was just
like, 'OK."
McClure couldn't believe what happened next. Bobbitt
used $20 he had collected from panhandling that day to buy her gas. He
even filled her car up.
"I almost couldn't believe it," McClure
added. "I said, 'Thank you...I swear, I'll be back. I promise I'll be
back to give you [the] money back.'"
McClure
said she and her boyfriend, Mark D'Amico, made several visits to
Bobbitt at that fateful exit ramp where her car broke down, delivering
gift cards, cash and toiletries.
Then one day, the couple decided
to create a GoFundMe to raise money so Bobbitt wouldn't have to spend
the upcoming holidays sleeping out on the street. Their initial goal was
$10,000. They had no idea that their crowdfunding efforts would
eventually total more than $360,000 by Saturday.
"I
wasn't expecting it," Bobbitt said of their generosity. "[I was] just
helping someone out...I was glad to offer the help when somebody needed
it."
Bobbitt
and McClure have since formed a friendship. It's been a welcome
development for the veteran, who was sleeping under a highway just four
days ago.
In fact, he had to wear sunglasses during his interview
on "Good Morning America" Sunday due to an eye infection caused from
wearing contact lenses too long while living on the street. "You don't
have comforts of home," Bobbitt said. "Normal things become struggle."
"It
does get kind of lonely out there. People treat you differently ...
when you're homeless," he admitted. "People don’t look at you the same."
Bobbitt said McClure and D'Amico, however, "treat me like a regular person."
With
more than 12,000 people donating to Bobbitt to help him get back on his
feet, many are wondering what he plans to do with the windfall. Bobbitt
said along with securing a place to live, and perhaps buying a used
truck, he's thinking long and hard about it.
"I want to change my life, but you know it just happened," he said. "I need to time to figure it all out."
McClure, a Florence, New Jersey, resident, has also arranged meetings with a financial planner and a lawyer to help the veteran.
"I
just want to do the right thing," Bobbitt continued, noting that he
plans to donate some of the money to organizations that help those in
need.
"This money was given to help me. Why not help other people
in similar situations or people that are actively helping other people
in different situations?" he said.
"Everybody
out there is facing some kind of struggle, so if I can touch their
life, the way mine was touched, [it'd be] an amazing feeling," Bobbitt
said. "I want to feel the feeling on the opposite end."
Culled from Good Morning America
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