Family sends pizza deliveryman to check on grandma after hurricane

PALM COAST, FL -- Family members of an 87-year-old Florida woman are now breathing a sigh of relief knowing she's safe after Hurricane Matthew.

It had been days since anyone heard from her. So her grandson thought of a way to get someone to check on her, WFTV reports.

It's the only Papa Johns in Flagler County, Fla. So when the restless people of Palm Coast realized the worst of Matthew was over, the phone rang off the hook.

Lance Tyler said tips on his deliveries have been good.

"They sure do order pizza after a hurricane," he said.

But as he grabbed a pizza destined for Parkway Drive over the weekend, he had no idea the payoff he was about to receive.

"It was quite a surprise for me," Tyler said.

The surprise started with a man named Eric who called in that order from Nebraska.

When he got to the neighborhood, he pulled out the box and took a look at the receipt. And as it turned out, there were some special instructions. A phone number to call, and he figured at the time it was just because the owner of the house had some big dogs they needed to put away.

"The way that he answered the phone, 'Is she there? Is she OK?' It sounded like he was worried," Tyler said.

"So he knocked on the door and said 'Delivery.' I said, 'I didn't order anything!' He says, 'Your grandson did,'" said grandma Claire Olsen.

Olsen has weathered her share of hurricanes. But she's never had a pizza delivery guy put his phone to her ear and heard her grandson.

"'Grandma, I haven't talked to you in two days. I got worried about you. You must be hungry by now!'" Olsen recalled her grandson saying.

The pizza was plain pepperoni.

"It was fantastic," Olsen said.

Tyler said it topped every tip he's ever gotten.

"Her expression was just priceless. The way that she was like, 'Whoa!'" he said.