Surveillance video shows the man entering a Georgia restaurant with the cane and moments later, another man appears to take it.
"I had to learn how to walk all over again," said the Army veteran, who asked WSB-TV not to use his name in this report. He told WSB-TV's Matt Johnson that the chronic pain in his feet makes it nearly impossible to walk without a cane.
"I'm in pain 24/7. There's nothing I can do about it," he said.
For the past eight years, the Army veteran relied on a cane his daughter gave him as she battled cancer, not knowing if she would live or die.
"It came from somebody who had all she could pray over, much less worry about me getting a cane, so it's been that special to me all these years," he said.
She's now cancer-free, and the cane made from a palm tree grew to be a symbol of her survival.
He never expected to be without it until last Sunday.
Surveillance video shows the Marietta grandfather walking gingerly toward a bathroom in a Calhoun Kentucky Fried Chicken while a man at the register watches.
Minutes later, the man in black walks out of the bathroom with the cane and props it against the wall. He picks up his order, appears to pick up the cane and walks out of the store.
Video appears to show the person at the register getting a look at an elderly man with a cane before video shows him swipe the cane and walk out of the store. Hear from the disabled veteran victim, @ 11. pic.twitter.com/uU6twuavDx
— Matt Johnson (@MattWSB) November 27, 2018
Without his cane, the victim said he felt weak.
"A lot of leaning up against the wall, leaning up against people," he said.
He watched the video that workers at the KFC on Highway 53 showed him.
"It was beyond anger; it was disappointment," he said.
He filed a report with the Calhoun Police Department and now even has a replacement cane.
He doesn't want anyone in trouble; he just wants what's his.
"I would cry, and it would be tears of joy rather than the tears I've shed over its loss," he said.
He hopes whoever is responsible will return the cane to the KFC or to the Calhoun Police Department.
Someone watched as this disabled veteran walked with a cane into a restaurant bathroom. That person then took the cane that meant the world to the Army veteran. Hear how it was a gift from his daughter as she battled Cancer, @ 11. pic.twitter.com/hJPUTKuZ7I
— Matt Johnson (@MattWSB) November 27, 2018
It's not worth a lot of money but its sentimental value is priceless for the Marietta grandfather who never thought someone would target a disabled person. pic.twitter.com/Wa7ar6o3U6
— Matt Johnson (@MattWSB) November 27, 2018
Calhoun Police are working to identify the person in the video. Victim says he doesn't want criminal charges, just the return of his cane. pic.twitter.com/sjhCYShB2p
— Matt Johnson (@MattWSB) November 27, 2018
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