Keri Carlson
Keri Carlson is a waitress from Connecticut, and she also happens to be deaf. She wasn’t born deaf. When she was four years old, she was in a car accident. Her injuries caused her to lose her hearing. Right after the accident, the doctors didn’t know that she had lost her hearing. When she struggled in school, her teachers and doctors thought that she had a learning disability. This misdiagnosis was the reason that she was held back a grade.
Getting Older
As Keri got older, the little hearing that she had was deteriorating. She relied on reading people’s lips and her hearing aid to be able to function in the outside world and live a normal life. Unfortunately, her hearing aids didn’t always work, and they were expensive to repair; therefore, she tried to get through each day hearing very little of what was going on around her.
GW Carlson’s Restaurant
In April 2017, Keri had been working at a restaurant called GW Carlson’s Restaurant. This establishment was famous for
Keri’s Customer
Keri was working her shift on that April day, and she went over to wait on a customer who was sitting in her section. The man was speaking to her and couldn’t help but notice that she was having trouble hearing him. She had to ask him to repeat himself often, and as she listened to him, she kept trying to look at his lips. Soon, he noticed that she had a hearing aid in each one of her ears. Keri saw that she noticed and she told him that she couldn’t hear him well because her hearing aid was not functioning correctly.
An Expensive Repair
Keri explained to the man that she was deaf and her hearing aids weren’t functioning properly. She also told him that she hadn’t had hers repaired yet because of the high cost. Working as a waitress, she lived on a minimal budget. While having her hearing air repaired was undoubtedly a necessary expense, she just didn’t have the money for it at that time. The man finished his meal and left the restaurant.
The Man Came Back
Keri was waiting on a table when the man came back into the restaurant. The man didn’t leave anything behind, and Keri knew this because she cleaned off the table herself. She wasn’t sure why he was there until he walked over to her and handed her $500. He told Keri to use the money to have her hearing aid fixed.
Shock
Keri was in shock when the man handed her the money. At first, she refused to take it. This was a lot of money, and she didn’t feel right taking it from a man who she had never met before. The man told Keri that he wasn’t going to take no for an answer. He told her that she deserved it, and that was when he became incredibly emotional.
Crying
When a customer noticed this waitress’ ear, what he did ma
Who Was the Man?
The man who gave Keri asked to remain anonymous. He wanted to do something wonderful for her that would change her life, but he didn’t want the world to know. That wasn’t why he did what he did. He just wanted to change her life. She knew he was because he gave her his card. She just respected his wishes and kept his name private.
Thank You
Keri sent the man a message thanking him for his generous gift. When the owner of the restaurant where Keri worked heard what this man did for her, he decided to pay it forward. He had sold t-shirts and planned to donate the money to charity, and after being inspired by what the man did for Keri, the owner of the restaurant donated the profits from the t-shirt drive to the American Society For Deaf Children. The man must have been proud to find out that his generous gift gave someone else the inspiration to do something kind as well. Today, Keri is happy. Her hearing aid is working again, and the man who gave her the money to have them fixed gave her faith that there are kind people in the world. She is also happy that her gift helped many other deaf children get the things that they need.
