Stranger heartbroken to see 88-year-old veteran working a minimum wage job transforms his life overnight
Unfortunately, Ed's wife was sick when he lost his pension.
Old age is meant for retirement and resting at our homes, but for Ed, life has never been kind. The 88-year-old army veteran, Ed, had been working as a retail worker at a store when he bumped into content creator Samuel Weidenhofer (@itssozer), who had a little chat with the elderly man and learned his heartbreaking story. Ed Bambas, who was forced into a minimum-wage job after losing his pension, shared his story, and millions of people around the world decided to present an incredible gift that moved him to tears on December 3.
Samuel approached store worker Ed to help him scan a water bottle when he decided to strike up a conversation. Samual shared that someone had nominated him from the store for being the hardest-working person. When the content creator asked why he kept working at 88 years, Ed shared that he retired from General Motors in 1999, and in 2012, they went bankrupt, which took his pension away from him. Unfortunately, Ed's wife was sick when he lost his pension. Ed was previously in the army in 1966. "The thing that hurt me the most was when my wife was really sick, and when they took away the pension, they also took the health care coverage and all but the $10,000 of my life insurance," said a choked-up Ed. He had to sell his house, the only property that he had, and he made it through. Since the death of his wife, he has been trying to reestablish himself.
Ed works 5 days per week on an 8-hour shift to make ends meet. Samual, who was moved by Ed's story, tipped him $400 and shared that he would like to share his story with the world. Samual's video went viral, racking up to 700,000 likes on Instagram. He also set up a GoFundMe for the elderly man, which surprisingly collected over $1 million. Sharing the update online, Samual wrote, "In just under 36 hours, we've shattered every expectation, raising over $1,000,000 for Ed Bambas, a remarkable 88-year-old veteran who has been working 5 days a week, 8 hours a day, just to get by." He also added, "We did this together. This is YOUR doing, and it's proof of the power of people coming together for something bigger than themselves."
According to a 2025 report by the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the labor force participation for adults aged 65 and older in the United States was about 19.5% in 2024. While most adults above 65 opt to work due to better health and longer life expectancy, for Ed, it was to make ends meet.
Soon after the update was shared, many users praised the content creator for his generous work. @jessiebarbosa wrote, "I was so upset watching the initial post then saw the Gofundme last night was at around 700k… today??? I am beyond happy." @efkirk commented, "This just makes me sob. I’m so happy for Ed !!!" @homeonanashvillehill commented, "I really needed to be reminded today how amazing and kind people can be."
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