Unsung Hero Showed Others the Impact One Person Can Have in a Community
Says man who wore cap that read: "I love to tell the story"—"I've always believed that you get along in this world by looking out for folks and sharing with the ones who've got less than you. So I reckon if I came into this world with nothing, that's how I'll leave it."
(Columbia, S.C.)-John Fling was legendary in Columbia, S.C. for helping the poor, the sick and the blind from his "one-man" ministry using just his Chevy truck and cell phone. On August 9, the 86-year-old sharecropper's son passed away after suffering a stroke.
He is said to have always given away what he didn't need: "I've always believed that you get along in this world by looking out for folks and sharing with the ones who've got less than you. So I reckon if I came into this world with nothing, that's how I'll leave it." (Photo: File Photograph/The State)
"This guy went from early in the morning to late in the evening, seven days a week, for 45 years," said David Houck, executive director of the Federation Center of the Blind. "When he had to slow down, it was probably the hardest thing he ever had to do."
According to a report in The State, those who loved Fling said no one can replace him. Notes reporter Dawn Hinshaw, "Having lost the sight in one eye during a childhood hunting accident, Fling gave special care to blind people, running errands for them or shuttling them to appointments. Although he was involved in many events...Fling was best known for giving hundreds of people a shopping spree each Christmas at the West Columbia Kmart...[he] demonstrated that one person could make a difference, giving hope where there wasn't much."
Fling reportedly always wore navy-blue work clothes and a cap printed with, "I love to tell the story."
His trucks were often provided by his former employer, Love Chevrolet. "He was a very, very simple man," said company president Michael Love. "The most unselfish man I've ever met."
The report also states that Fling visited three presidents in the White House and was named one of former President Bush's "1,000 Points of Light" and in 1991, he was honored by the Norman Vincent Peale Foundation, which named six "unsung heroes" that year.
