The Army veteran, who asked that his name not be used, told WSB the chronic pain in his feet makes it nearly impossible to walk without a cane.
“I had to learn how to walk all over again,” he said.
“I’m in pain 24/7,” the veteran said. “There’s nothing I can do about it.”
At a KFC in Calhoun, Georgia, a man took the cane from the bathroom, propped it against a wall, picked up his order and left with the cane, surveillance video showed.
“It was beyond anger,” he said after seeing the video. “It was disappointment.”
For the past eight years, the Army veteran relied on a cane his daughter gave him as she battled cancer. She’s now cancer free.
The victim filed a police report and is using a replacement cane, but he said it’s not the same.
The Gwinnett Woodworkers Association has stepped in the to help. The group's vice president, Robert Austin, told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution it would get a cane to the veteran.
“There’s no charge,” Austin said.
The group has donated about 360 canes to the Veterans Administration in Atlanta as well as others to individuals, Austin said.
The victim is hoping to get his original cane back, saying, “I would cry and it would be tears of joy rather than the tears I’ve shed over its loss.”
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