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by alicek from myFOXdfw Newsroom

Last Post 10 hours Ago


Five perfect strangers have helped raise more than $7,000 for a mentally challenged man who was the subject of a FOX 4 story on Tuesday night.

Johnny Bryant, 53, has worked for the last 35 years as a stocker in a Brookshire grocery in Tarrant County. He has very limited capacity-- he does not read well. He stocks shelves by matching the pictures on the cans together. But he is reliable and hardworking and cheerful.

Bryant lost all of the $151,000 in his 401k account after a woman named Cynthia Hardee befriended him and talked him into cashing it out. She spend $73,000 on herself and talked him into wasting the rest.

When jurors convicted Hardee of theft and sentenced her to 5 years in prison, the jury forewoman decided to go one step further. She donated the money she earned from jury duty ($166) and convinced other jurors to do the same. The prosecutor wrote a $250 check. They put the money into a bank account to benefit Bryant, to help replace some of the lost retirement money.

Bryant can never retire-- he must keep working. Let's help him if we can.

Since we aired this story last night, five more people have given money to this fund, bringing the donation total to $7,000!!!! One person donated $3,000! Another gave $1,900. If you can help by giving $10 or $5 the next time you go to the bank, why not?

To find out how to help, visit the story link below: (see video of Johnny Bryant in the sidebar)
http://www.myfoxdfw.com/myfox/pages/ContentDetail?cont
entId=6324863

15 Comments |  Add a Comment

Member Comments Total Comments: 15
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ted-mania read my blog view my photos
Apr 16, 2008 | 3:10 PM

Stories like this are great to hear Alice....

Glad this woman got busted....taking advantage of anyone sucks.....taking advantage of a mentally challenged person is by far the lowest....

I'll see what I can do to help this guy out a little.....I don't have much....but I can spare some.......especially for a cause like this one

great story Alice........

luvmykid read my blog
Apr 16, 2008 | 3:13 PM

I'm there also....payday is on Friday and I am sure I can spare a little for Gods angel.

chardoney read my blog view my photos
Apr 16, 2008 | 3:21 PM

These sorts of stories, are not that unusual...American is a caring county, "American exceptionalism", if you will. This can be done well and often, by individuas... and NOT government. THAT IS what makes this country special. What a shame not all fortunate enough to live here, can see it.

I wish the gentlemen the best.

flipnotic read my blog view my photos
Apr 16, 2008 | 3:25 PM

American is a caring county?

ted-mania read my blog view my photos
Apr 16, 2008 | 3:30 PM

a simple typo......(we're all guilty on this one).....

Here's a free "R".....just for Char....

SnapDragon read my blog
Apr 16, 2008 | 3:39 PM

im going to give a donation
thats a sad story
i dont know how people can do things like that

OrionStarAblaze read my blog view my photos
Apr 16, 2008 | 3:56 PM

Welcome to America. This surprises y'all?

The poor [...] never saw it coming and that's exactly why she did it- she's another greedy, manipulative American piece of trash.

Bellafisk read my blog view my photos
Apr 16, 2008 | 4:04 PM

Saw this when it was on the news. What I don't understand is why this woman is not ordered to pay back all that money she stole.

I think 5 years is a slap on the wrist considering that she took advantage of the mentally challenged.

There are so many out there that are able bodied and capable of working but would rather look for a hand out. This man is an inspiration.

Thank you Alice for posting this story. I will definiely be making a contribution.

alicek read my blog view my photos
Apr 16, 2008 | 4:06 PM

John, the sad part is it's NOT surprising.. but the best part of the story is the jurors who got the ball rolling to help the victim. So many people (myself included) probably wouldn't have thought to make the extra step.

GRAYWOLF read my blog view my photos
Apr 16, 2008 | 7:11 PM

Bella,
That is what civil courts are for. I would not be at all surprised to hear that he is filing a civil suit against her.

nived23 read my blog view my photos
Apr 16, 2008 | 8:59 PM

Speaking of civil courts, I just saw your photo album, alice and the picture with what I'm guessing is you, standing next to your car with bricks busted through the windshield and crunched the hood and scratched the paint. What on earth was that that fell on your car? I bet you were just beside yourself with "anger" for lack of a better word. Is your car okay? Yeah, I would have been looking for some dollar signs over that. It should have been structurally build and constructed better that way, something like that wouldn't have happened. PAID!!! $$$

Infectious_Sense read my blog view my photos
Apr 17, 2008 | 2:24 AM

What an evil, evil woman. I hope he DOES file a civil suit. I hope there are enough people around him with the sense to lead him in that direction.

I will definitely be contributing. That is just SO wrong.

ProudAmerican read my blog view my photos
Apr 17, 2008 | 6:28 AM

Americans donate more money to relief than any other country, so yes; America is a caring country. We just have some fools among us as well.

I don't think five years is long enough for what took him thirty-five years to save. She should spend a longer time in prison and be made to pay him back every last dime. She is one evil person as I_S said and preyed upon someone who didn't know what was going on.

Thanks for the link Alice.

2tickets2paradise read my blog view my photos
Apr 17, 2008 | 9:04 AM

That story touched my heart as well. It reminded me of another story, where the lady was on her way to work at a nail parlor in Dallas and a man jumped off a bridge over I-45, jumped right onto her car, injuring the woman (a single mother) and totaling her only car. She had to be out of work for many weeks and had no insurance. The man, lived and was put in a nuthouse someplace but that didn't help the lady, who had her life turned upside down in a few seconds and without any notice. Everyone sent her money to help her with her medical bills, I can't remember which Country she was from, but she was a fairly new citizen of the USA just trying to make ends meet. It's stories like these that show how much Americans do care and how we can band together and help those in need.

philmcgroin read my blog
Apr 17, 2008 | 9:22 AM

Sounds like flip and orion need to take a trip to the [...] store and be around their own kind. There are still good people out here in this country. Not everyone is like the woman that did this. Anyone who takes advantage of another person for any reason, is crap to me.

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alicek

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Member Since: 12/20/2006