In the more than four months since Hurricane Helene battered western North Carolina, destroying homes and entire communities, residents have worked hard to rebuild.

For Madeline Fry, the days immediately after were tough.

“From wearing the same flood-soaked clothes for three days, no access to cash, food [or] hotel rooms, you couldn’t reach for help,” she said. “Emergency vehicles were everywhere. It was a lot.”

This week, Fry and 6,500 North Carolinians got a surprising call from a familiar voice, with news that would change their lives.

Roy Williams, the former coach of the University of North Carolina men’s basketball team, called some residents of western North Carolina and informed them that some of the debt they had was going to be completely erased.

Williams, along with Verizon and ForgiveCo, helped erase $10 million worth of debt for people living in western NC.

When Fry learned her medical debt was going to be erased, she was shocked by both the generosity of the gift and the man who delivered the news.

“Coach [Williams] was just so personable,” she said. “To think that he, with everything he’s achieved in his career and lifetime, would take time out to talk to me?”

Williams said he was thankful to be able to make that call.

“You can tell when you’re talking to some of those people that we talked to this morning that they’ve been needing a little help,” he said. “They just needed a little hope for them to keep going.”

Source: wral.com