Jeffrey Hillman is the 54-year-old homeless man who hit the news last week when a compassionate police officer bought him a $100 pair of lined boots. Hillman had been sitting, propped up against a building, barefooted on a cold New York night. NYPD officer Lawrence DePrimo saw his plight, bought him warm boots and socks and proceeded to put them on him.
A tourist from Arizona took a picture of DePrimo’s kindness and emailed it to the police department. From there the news went viral via the Internet, captivating hundreds of thousands.
A day or so later Hillman was out on the sidewalk barefoot. The boots, he explained, were expensive. He feared someone would steal them, forcibly if necessary. “I could lose my life,” he said.
Drawn to the story, reporters discovered that Hillman was an estranged father of two who had deliberately left the world of family and work a decade ago. He has a brother in Nazareth, Pa., who says the family loves Jeffrey, that his home is open to him, but that he has chosen the life he is living on the streets of New York, depending on handouts. Kirk Hillman said he hadn’t heard from Jeffrey since January.
Jeffrey’s story tugged at heartstrings across the country. How sad that a middle-aged man would be so destitute. How kind it was of the officer to dig into his own pocket and be so kind. It was almost a religious gesture, fitting for the season.
But then Jeffrey pulled the curtain open and let the world see the rest of the story. He wasn’t the victim of a cruel fate, but of his own decisions. He decided at age 44 to let other people take care of him. He also decided to let his wife and others take care of his two offspring. He decided to live a bum’s life.
Officer DePrimo’s compassion is no less admirable for all this. Hillman was cold. Warming him was the right thing to do. But this Christmas story reminds us that being an effective good Samaritan can sometimes be a discouraging assignment.
— Emerson Lynn, jr.
