Empathetic folks help scam victim

Her faith in people was restored.

By THOMAS LAKE, Times Staff Writer
Published October 13, 2007

Cheryl Sutherland, 40, a Port Richey resident with multiple sclerosis and other health problems, watches television for 15 hours a day because she's physically unable to do much else.
	[Brendan Fitterer | Times]

PORT RICHEY - This was Cheryl Sutherland before Friday: "I've been taken advantage of and stabbed in the back so many times, I really didn't believe people were good anymore."

This is Cheryl Sutherland now: "The human spirit is still alive."

This is part of what crushed her faith in human goodness. On Sunday morning, a man came knocking at her door. He said he was from Bright House, her cable bill was overdue, and he would cut it off if she didn't pay him. Sutherland has multiple sclerosis and congestive heart failure, and TV is her lifeline. She found a way to pay him, even though she is a single mother getting by on barely $600 a month, but it turned out he was an impostor and a thief.

What restored her faith in human goodness? After the St. Petersburg Times ran a story on her plight, nearly a dozen people responded with offers of help. Someone contacted Bright House and paid her cable and phone bill for an entire year. Others pledged hundreds of dollars in cash and gift certificates. And today, a local restaurant owner plans to replace her old 19-inch TV with a 32-incher.

"Unbelievable," she said.

Thomas Lake can be reached at tlake@sptimes.com or toll-free at 1-800-333-7505, ext. 6245.

[Last modified October 12, 2007, 19:44:43]