A sanitation worker in Missouri was caught on camera going out of his way to help an 88-year-old woman with dementia. Colette Kingston of Kansas City told Fox News on Wednesday that she had a Ring security camera installed on her mother’s home in nearby Independence, Mo., so she could check on her mother, Opal Zucca, who has dementia. “I get a notification on my phone when there is movement in her driveway,” Kingston said.
When she got an alert Tuesday afternoon, Kingston looked at the video and saw a sanitation worker holding her mother’s hand, walking with her up the driveway. “He was bringing up her trash can and just helping her walk up the driveway,” Kingston said. “It made me teary-eyed to see that someone would be so compassionate and caring.”
The sanitation worker, identified as Billy Shelby with Waste Management, was heard laughing with Zucca in the video. “It’s good to see you,” Shelby told Zucca.
“It’s good seeing you too,” she responded. “God bless you as always, darling.”
He added, “Looking good. I like that hair. I got to work on mine.”
The gesture was “sweet and emotional,” Kingston said, and she appreciated it — especially because her mother tripped and hit her head while trying to retrieve the trash can in January.
Kingston said she had seen Shelby before on the camera helping her mother with the garbage. “I’ve noticed him a few times on the camera returning the trash can, but not to this personal extent,” she said. “It’s like his own grandmother that he’s helping, like one of his family members.”