TAMPA, Fla. — A local veteran received help this Veterans Day thanks to the generosity of strangers.
73-year-old Ed Wickliffe and his wife had fallen on hard times after numerous home citations piled up.
"We would have had to be forced into selling the house in order to avoid the county fines and things like that," Wickliffe said.
A call to a friend within the county got the ball rolling to help with repairs.
Former Tampa Bay Buccaneers player Vincent Jackson stepped in too with his organization, Jackson In Action83 Foundation, a group that helps vets.
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Jackson along with the Buccaneers teamed up with UnitedHealthcare’s “Do Good. Live Well.” employee volunteer initiative and Operation Code Vet to get a new roof installed, inside paneling and outside work complete.
It's an action that goes beyond the surface for Wickliffe.
"It will put me on the way to recovery. Getting our lives back together. You know this had pretty much wrecked things for us for quite some time," Wickliffe said. "I get emotional thinking about that there's actually people who contribute their time, their money, their materials and help solve the problems that are really deep for somebody else."
The icing on the cake were super bowl tickets to this years game in Miami.
"Thank you. Thank you so much. We can't thank you enough."
The $20,000 undertaking was funded by United Healthcare.
