On Friday night, 93.7 The Fan in Pittsburgh’s Colin Dunlap took a call from Colette in Brackenridge.
Only Colette didn’t want to discuss the end of the Steelers’ season or the Penguins’ upcoming matchup against the Vegas Knights, but rather the trouble she and her husband were having clearing snow from their driveway.
“A year and a half ago my husband fell off of his truck at work and destroyed his foot, his leg, his ankle and still needs to get surgery on his arm,” Colette said. “So I went out last year and bought myself a snow blower thinking, ‘OK, I got this made. No problem. We’ll be able to do all the snow here. I’ll be able to go out there because I’m disabled. We’re both 65.’ I go out there to start this doggone snow blower and it doesn’t work. Brand new. I took care of all the stuff, I know what to do. So here, I ended up spending $800 to save me the trouble of having to do the back thing and hurt myself because I’ve had 28 surgeries.”
“Wait a minute, you’ve have 28 surgeries?” the Pittsburgh radio host replied.
“Oh yeah,” Colette replied in a matter of fact manner.
After Dunlap asked if any neighbors were willing to help her cause, Colette noted, “We’re all old in this neighborhood” and that her next door neighbor who usually helps was out of town. At that point, Dunlap issued a call to action to his listeners, imploring them to help Colette and her husband with their snow.
“Somebody needs to help Colette out,” Dunlap said. “People need to take care of her snow the rest of this season. She’s had 28 surgeries, her husband fell off a truck and he’s all busted up. There are far too many able-bodied people that this lady needs to be out there. Her snow blower isn’t working? What the hell are we doing? We see all the time on social media and all these things, ‘Help a neighbor out. Pitch in, help out. Do all this stuff.’ It’s not always about giving money. It’s not always about doing things like that. It’s about being able to help people out and giving them 10 minutes or 15 minutes of the time.”
UPDATE: Tom showed up and shoveled the driveway for Colette and her family.
This is an awesome story. Worth your time. This is what Western Pennsylvanians do for each other.
So happy I could link them up through the power of live radio.— Colin Dunlap (@colin_dunlap) January 20, 2024
It didn’t take long for the calls to come in, with multiple Pittsburgh fans offering to help Colette and her husband clear their snow. Taking to social media on Saturday morning, Dunlap revealed that the story had a happy ending, with one of the show’s callers, Tom, ultimately following through on his promise.
“This is what Western Pennsylvanians do for each other,” the host of The Colin Dunlap Show wrote. “So happy I could link them up through the power of live radio.”
About Ben Axelrod
Ben Axelrod is a veteran of the sports media landscape, having most recently worked for NBC's Cleveland affiliate, WKYC. Prior to his time in Cleveland, he covered Ohio State football and the Big Ten for outlets including Cox Media Group, Bleacher Report, Scout and Rivals.