For the firefighters of Cy-Fair Station 8, there was never any doubt they would help one of their own. But the veteran volunteer here, Wayne Ford, told us as he took his turn sitting at the bedside of Thomas Shuster and was astonished.
"It was hard," he told us. "Don't want to see anybody like that."
Schuster was making a delivery during his regular job as a driver for O' Reilly Auto Parts when police say a drunk driver hit him and injured him so severely that doctors had to amputate both his legs. Almost a week later, he is still in critical condition so his colleagues decided to buy 60 briskets and raise money with a barbecue. As word began to spread, they realized they were going to need a bit more meat.
"By 9 o'clock it was over 200 and we went scrambling cause we were gonna need some help bad," Ford said.
And the lines only grew. Bobby Marsh was helping sell sandwiches when he realized people were paying more than the $5 he was asking for.
"He wrote me a check and I handed him a sandwich," Marsh told us.
That simple transaction brought in $5,000 for one sandwich. Organizers say in 10 hours they raised more than $50,000.
And Ford says it's enough to make even a grown may cry.
"This family's got a lot they'll be going through and we'll be with 'em," he told us.
Anyone who wants to donate the family can stop at any Bank of America and donate to the Thomas Shuster fund.
The driver accused of hitting Shuster is charged with intoxication assault. Investigators say Celio Velasquez, 23, was drunk and driving a stolen car when he lost control and hit Shuster on Monday.
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