(August 10, 2012) - The story of this week’s Billy Johnson Community hero is all
about “Paying it Forward.” Our hero Cory Russell, a 28-year-old resident of
Pikeville, did just that. A few weeks ago, the morning after his wedding,
Russell overheard an elderly gentleman asking the clerk in Pikeville’s Hampton
Inn for a phone book. The gentlman was trying to find an old Navy buddy he hadn’t
seen since 1960. What Cory Russell did next is what makes him this week’s Billy
Johnson Community Hero.
“He [the elderly gentleman] was talking to the people in the
front lobby and he was saying, ‘You know, I’m getting old and I want to find my
long lost buddy and I haven’t seen him in 40 years.’ And I heard him mention
his name and I said, ‘Well heck, I know the guy’s name. Come over here and see
if we can’t find him.’ And so I just told him, ‘Tell you what, by no means do
you have to do this, but if you can take me to my truck, I’ll take you to the
guy’s front door.’ So he’s like ‘You don’t have to do that,’ and I said, ‘Look
seriously, I want you to get up with this guy. I don’t want to leave here until
you get to talk to him. I mean, you came all the way up to Pikeville to find
him and we’re going to make it happen.’ And so I just drove him all the way to
that guy’s front door.”
Before Cory left, he shared with the two men that his good deed
had already been paid forward: by the manager of the Hampton Inn.
“Yeah, they [the elderly couple] were like, ‘Do we owe
anything?’ and I was like, ‘Absolutely not, but I need to tell you before I
leave that the Hampton Inn had just called and said for my generosity helping
you out they comped our hotel room.’”
We asked Cory why he did what he did that morning. He said
that people have helped him all his life, and he felt it was only right for him
to help someone else.
“You know, look how many things that people have done for
me. If you get an opportunity, don’t let it slide by. Pay it forward and one
day, maybe I’ll need somebody’s help and hopefully I’ll be fortunate enough for
someone to step up and be willing to help a hand."
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