Clearwater officers help clean home of woman who 'had nobody'

CLEARWATER (FOX 13) - A Clearwater woman’s home was not in the best living conditions, but with the help of four police officers, they helped with the clean-up efforts.

Officer Darold Cook with the Clearwater Police Department met the 65-year-old woman during a welfare check. Police said she had let the condition inside her home go in recent years after dealing with the loss of her mother and her son moving out of the U.S.

They said she had no friends or family nearby to help her. 

“She said, ‘I don’t want to live this way, but I don’t know where to start,’” according to the agency’s Facebook post. “Officer Cook, who was sworn in just a little more than two months ago, had a question for her: ‘Would you let me come over and help you?’”

She agreed, but Cook didn’t come alone. He brought three more of his fellow recruits. Together, they visited her home on their own time on Sunday. Her place was cleaned up after several hours of sweat and filling trash bags.

“She had nobody. Everybody needs a helping hand once in a while,” Officer Cook said. “If it was my mom, I would hope that someone would help her.” 
Clearwater police said the resident was grateful for the four officers. 
“She couldn’t believe we were there helping her,” Officer Cook said. “We made a huge difference.”