While one grandmother thought that she was just helping out a homeless person, she was in for a big surprise. On one cold winter night, a grandmother in Texas noticed a homeless man wandering around the neighborhood. She knew just how cold Texas winters could be, and she could not stand to let the homeless man sleep outside without shelter.
The grandmother lived alone with her two granddaughters in Houston. Although she had retired years earlier, she still worked at a part-time job to help provide for her granddaughters. The kind soul was used to feeding the homeless and providing them with her spare bedroom on cold nights. A firm believer in the kindness …show more content…
of humanity, she tried to make a difference in the world in small ways.
The 66-year-old woman set up the homeless man in her spare bedroom. Rob Smith, the homeless man, was down on his luck after losing his job, and he was struggling to find work. Thankfully, he accepted her offer of the spare bedroom. The grandmother, who's name was not released, awoke later that night in surprise. Flames were crawling up the curtains, and the entire house was filled with smoke.
Escaping a Burning House
Rob Smith heard something that night. While he was thankful for the warm bed and shelter, he could not fall asleep right away. According to the Phoenix Daily News, Smith heard a loud boom in the house. His first thought was that someone was trying to break into the grandmother's home. Throwing on his clothes, he opened the door to the hallway and realized that the small house was engulfed in flames.
Bursting into action, he immediately went to the grandmother's bedroom.
Parts of the ceiling had fallen onto the bed, and the grandmother was not strong enough to push aside the rubble and escape. With little thought to his own safety, Smith pushed aside the rubble with superhuman effort. Pulling the grandmother from the fire, he rushed back into the burning building to look for the girls. Twice he returned to the flames, and each time he emerged from the smoke with another little girl in his arms.
Safe outside of the home, Smith was finally able to collapse. The smoke inhaled in the fire was making it difficult to breath, and he struggled to cough. Next to him, the two girls huddled in terror next to their grandmother as they watched pieces of the house fall into the fire.
Around the little family, fire trucks and ambulances screamed to a halt. Neighbors from across the street were emerging in their pajamas with blankets for the victims. Next to the girls, the grandmother cried quietly. She had owned the property for 40 years, and all of her memories were burning in the fire. As the firefighters struggled to put out the flames, the grandmother watched her entire life go up in smoke.
Struggling to …show more content…
Rebuild
After such a traumatic event, the grandmother's first goal was to make life as normal as possible for her granddaughters. At night, the girls would wake up in terror as nightmares of the fire filled their minds. While they were able to stay with a neighbor for the rest of the night, the family needed a new place to live if they wanted a normal life again.
Going to the bank, the grandmother wanted to pull out the little she had been able to save over the years.
To her surprise, the bank teller told her that she had $200,000 in her account. Shocked, the grandmother asked for an account statement. Looking through the document, she discovered the source of the mystery money. A few days ago, the grandmother had played an online casino game for a few hours. She had been a part of a promotion that gave her 80 free spins, and she had played the casino game in between work and her chores. Apparently, the casino was more than just an online game. Without intending to, she had made enough money to rebuild her home and get her family back to a normal life.
While the money was exciting news, there was still one person to thank after the fire. Driving to the same road where she found Smith before, she was elated that he was still there. Pulling over, she got out and gave him a hug as the little girls crowded around him. Smith was shocked by the news of the grandmother's windfall. His initial shock increased when he realized that the grandmother wanted to give a quarter of her winnings to him. From now on, Smith would be able to live in a warm, safe house.
Although the grandmother was one of the biggest winners in the casino giveaway, she was not the only person to win. Since the promotion started, 1,531 players across the globe have won money from free spins. The online casino company has reported $2,191,843 in innings from just last month,
so the promotion will be ending soon.