Charlie Hicks, 78 (L), with Donell Stallworth, chef at Shrimp Basket, Florida, USA.
The establishment’s most loyal customer in Florida, USA, disappeared. The chef stopped work and went to knock on his door. They “created a special connection”.
For a decade, Charlie Hicks, now 78 years old, was an unmistakable presence at Shrimp Basket, a restaurant in Pensacola, in the US state of Florida.
The ritual was repeated, without deviations: at lunch, I always ordered a bowl of shrimp, with little rice, no crackers. At night, he always came back to make exactly the same order.
“We could set the clock just by his arrival”, revealed the restaurant’s chef, Donell Stallworth. “Mr. Hicks doesn’t miss a day,” he said: “We open the doors and he is there to welcome us.”
It was precisely Charlie’s assiduity that left Donell uncomfortable last September, when the routine broke down and Mr. Hicks suddenly stopped showing up, without warning, for several days in a row. For the chef, it was too strange.
“I knew right away that something was wrong,” Stallworth said.
Fearing the worst, Donell left work in the middle of his shift and drove to the client’s apartment to clean up everything. He knocked on the door several times, without answer. As he was getting ready to leave, he heard a faint voice asking for help.
“Just as I was about to turn around, I heard something, a voice, as if saying: ‘Socorro‘”, contou Stallworth at CBS.
The chef entered and found Hicks lying on the floor. He didn’t know how long he had been there — possibly for days, he reveals — and the uncertainty about his condition was the scariest moment. hicks he was severely dehydrated and had two broken ribs. Donell had just saved Charlie’s life.
From that episode onwards, the two “created a bond”, the elderly man tells CBS.
Shrimp Basket employees first took the shrimp to the hospital. Then, they mobilized to find a new home for Hicks, this time, right next to the restaurant, so they could monitor him closely and ensure he would not be isolated again. The team also helped equip and arrange the new apartment, with appliances and improvements to the space.
Three months after the accident, Hicks returned to the restaurant and resumed the routine that had marked the last 10 years. At your favorite table, with your personalized dish in front of you.
“He’s that uncle,” says Stallworth, “it’s that grandfather, it’s that best friend. He’s everything in one.”
