Darnell Turner is photographed in his home Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016, in Chattanooga, Tenn. Neediest cases helped Turner to pay his mortgage while he was overwhelmed by medical bills.
For more than three decades, 72-year-old Darnell Turner supported his family as a factory worker. He retired, then made ends meet cutting yards and working as a handyman until he got sick.
Diabetes always nagged him, but in 2008 he was diagnosed with an aneurysm that has had him in and out of the hospital ever since.
Turner has been dealing with his illness so much lately that he wasn’t able to maintain his normal work flow and couldn’t pay his $300 mortgage. Neediest Cases gave him the money to get it done.
“I checked a couple of places but they all said they didn’t do that, so it [Neediest Cases] was the last straw,” said Turner, who has lived in his Alton Park home for more than a decade.
He is one of 170 people assisted this year through financial contributions made by local readers.