UPDATE: The crowdfunding effort has netted Mr. Fleming over 5.5 million dollars in cash and a case of Marlboro cigarettes from his local smoke shop. Way to go Randy!
Rural Kentucky - Randy Fleming knows all about life's little setbacks. In 2014 he was hospitalized with chest pain following the loss of $300 from a Super Bowl bet gone bad. Two heart attacks and four cardiac stents later, Randy feels blessed just to be alive.
So when his car got towed last year for unpaid parking tickets and he couldn't afford to pay the impound fees, he did what any other die hard smoker would do in this situation. He started walking. A lot. Twenty-one miles each way to his smoke shop to be exact.
"Doctors told me walking was good for my heart, so I decided to listen to their advice and hit the streets after I lost my car," said Randy, who says he's dropped from a five pill per day nitroglycerin user to 3 pills per day ever since he started walking last year.
In nearly a year of his daily cigarette commute, Randy has put in more than 15,000 miles of walking to make sure he has enough cigarettes to put on the table for him and his family. Despite being a single father with four teenage smokers to support, Randy isn't complaining.
"Living in rural Kentucky is tough. Everyday is a struggle. I have to walk uphill, both ways, sometimes in a blizzard, just to get to Cheapest Damn Cigarettes and Phone Cards Smoke Shop," said Randy.
But Randy isn't complaining. "It's what I do for me and my family."
Local news station WKYT was alerted to his daily struggles by Tom Johnson, a fellow smoke shop regular, and decided to profile Randy as their feel good feature story of the week. So moved by the story, Tom set up a crowdfunding site to help Randy get a car to ease the burden of buying cigarettes for himself and his family. Facebook and Twitter lit up with hashtag #Lucky21GetRandyDrivingForSmokes and the rest was history.
"After reading about James Robertson and his quarter million dollar loot to buy a car, I thought we could do better than that and better we did. Our crowdfunding initiative has raised over 5 million dollars for Randy in just one short week. We are proud of our fellow Kentuckians for coming to the rescue of one of our own."
Randy was overwhelmed with emotions after learning about his new found fortune. But that joy quickly turned to fear after he realized he still had 6 million dollars in unpaid hospital bills to attend to.
"Perhaps I can work out a deal with the hospital where they'll let me keep a couple million dollars to support my family's smoking habit and they can have a rest," said Randy.
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Rural Kentucky - Randy Fleming knows all about life's little setbacks. In 2014 he was hospitalized with chest pain following the loss of $300 from a Super Bowl bet gone bad. Two heart attacks and four cardiac stents later, Randy feels blessed just to be alive.
So when his car got towed last year for unpaid parking tickets and he couldn't afford to pay the impound fees, he did what any other die hard smoker would do in this situation. He started walking. A lot. Twenty-one miles each way to his smoke shop to be exact.
"Doctors told me walking was good for my heart, so I decided to listen to their advice and hit the streets after I lost my car," said Randy, who says he's dropped from a five pill per day nitroglycerin user to 3 pills per day ever since he started walking last year.
In nearly a year of his daily cigarette commute, Randy has put in more than 15,000 miles of walking to make sure he has enough cigarettes to put on the table for him and his family. Despite being a single father with four teenage smokers to support, Randy isn't complaining.
"Living in rural Kentucky is tough. Everyday is a struggle. I have to walk uphill, both ways, sometimes in a blizzard, just to get to Cheapest Damn Cigarettes and Phone Cards Smoke Shop," said Randy.
But Randy isn't complaining. "It's what I do for me and my family."
Local news station WKYT was alerted to his daily struggles by Tom Johnson, a fellow smoke shop regular, and decided to profile Randy as their feel good feature story of the week. So moved by the story, Tom set up a crowdfunding site to help Randy get a car to ease the burden of buying cigarettes for himself and his family. Facebook and Twitter lit up with hashtag #Lucky21GetRandyDrivingForSmokes and the rest was history.
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| Randy does whatever it takes to support his kids' smoking habit. |
"After reading about James Robertson and his quarter million dollar loot to buy a car, I thought we could do better than that and better we did. Our crowdfunding initiative has raised over 5 million dollars for Randy in just one short week. We are proud of our fellow Kentuckians for coming to the rescue of one of our own."
Randy was overwhelmed with emotions after learning about his new found fortune. But that joy quickly turned to fear after he realized he still had 6 million dollars in unpaid hospital bills to attend to.
"Perhaps I can work out a deal with the hospital where they'll let me keep a couple million dollars to support my family's smoking habit and they can have a rest," said Randy.
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