We will all be old one day, and when that day comes I hope we’ll all have kind-hearted people nearby to look after us.
Norm is an 83 year old war veteran who formed a strong friendship with police officer Jon Sterling. The pair bonded over their shared “eccentricities” and Sgt. Sterling often checked in on Norm.
But one day, when Sgt. Sterling was doing his rounds in the community, he noticed that something wasn’t right. He hadn’t seen or heard from Norm for a while.
So he went to investigate – and discovered something that made him go above and beyond his usual calling.
Sgt. Jon Sterling is a proud husband and father. He’s also a police officer who has worked for the Erlanger Police Department in Kentucky for more than 20 years.
Four years ago, an unexpected friendship blossomed when Korean War veteran Norm called Sgt. Sterling’s department to report some suspicious activity going on in the area.
“He’s a little bit eccentric, and he’s got a way about him that I like because I’m a little bit eccentric myself,” Sgt. Sterling tells Inside Edition. “That’s one of the ways we bonded.”
The two kept in touch, with Sgt. Sterling regularly checking in on Norm, who recently turned 83 years old.
However, recently Sgt. Sterling became worried when he hadn’t seen Norm for a while. He went by the veteran’s home, only to find social workers gathered outside.
When he caught sight of his friend, he was shocked.
Diagnosed with dementia
“It’d been so long since I’d seen him,” Sgt. Sterling explains. “His hair was real long, his beard was down, it really didn’t look like he was taking care of himself.”
It was around that time that Norm was diagnosed with early onset dementia.
Norm was struggling to take care of himself – he had no friends or family nearby to take care of him.
So Sgt. Sterling stepped up for his friend. He applied for guardianship of Norm, taking care of him and helping him apply for veteran benefits.
He’s also set up a Go Fund Me account to raise funds for Norm, to cover the costs of his health needs and to move into a facility that can take care of him.
See a news clip about Sgt. Sterling’s kind gesture below:
What an incredible story! Imagine if we all paid this much attention to people in need… a little bit of kindness goes a long way.
Please help us thank Sgt. Sterling and all our other hard working police officers who go above and beyond to look out for the most vulnerable people in our communities.
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