“We all have to try to be kinder to each other and to make things work,”
Robyn Small, WUSA9, with permission
WASHINGTON (WUSA9) – A D.C. firefighter noticed a homeless man in need Saturday afternoon and stepped in to help.
Ricardo Kingsbury, from DCFD Engine 5 in Georgetown, parked his firetruck on Wisconsin Avenue near Newark Street in Northwest D.C. to grab some lunch. That’s when he saw a man walking without any shoes.
When the man went and sat on a bench, Kingsbury took off his own shoes and offered them to the man.
“It seemed like his feet were a little swollen and he was in pain,” Kingsbury said. “I just said to myself, maybe he can wear my shoes and get around.”
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Unfortunately, Kingsbury’s shoes didn’t fit the man. Kingsbury wears a size 12, and the man on the bench wore a size 13. But the gesture didn’t go unnoticed.
Kingsbury said compassion is a core value of the fire department, and he said the best feeling you can have comes when you help someone else.
“Firefighter Ricardo Kingsbury represents the best in all of us,” DC Fire and EMS tweeted Saturday.
Kingsbury also noted that he’s seen a lot of acts of kindness lately, during COVID.
“We all have to try to be kinder to each other and to make things work,” he said. “It’s a rough situation for a lot of people, and we try to do the best we can to make it work.”
