If you haven't seen the TikTok video that went viral from Pittsburgh International Airport here it is:
The man who posted the video was asking if this custodian should still be working and wanted to get a hold of him to raise money for him to retire.
The video shows a man I recognized right away. His name is John Beatty and he's been a custodian at the airport for nearly 25 years. I first met "Honest John" Beatty more than a decade ago when he was cleaning a gate at the Pittsburgh International Airport and found a $25,000 ring someone had lost. He turned it in without hesitation.
The TikTok video of John is heartbreaking when you don't know his story. He has a permanent curvature of the spine. Original reports from other media outlets said that John didn't want any help and just loved his job. Not quite. John actually reached out to the Get Marty team saying he would actually love some help.
That's when we sat down for the interview in the main video on this page.
While he does love his job, John was recently was diagnosed with a lung condition and has to keep working to maintain his health insurance coverage. He doesn't have any family to assist and frankly doesn't know what else to do but keep working as long as he can.
With his permission, we have set up the only authorized GoFundMe account to help him out.
None of this would be possible without the help of one man, that's Josue Lopez. He's from the Chicago area and was in leaving a job in Pittsburgh when he saw John and created that video. What a kind, caring man who had no idea his little 13 second video would get this kind of a response.
Here's our conversation:
How's that for the kindness of strangers!?!
Folks if you need help or you want to be a helper please reach out: getmarty@kdkaradio.com