News

Actions

Man sends pizza delivery man to check on grandma after Hurricane Matthew

Man sends pizza delivery man to check on grandma after Hurricane Matthew
Posted at 4:26 PM, Oct 12, 2016
and last updated 2016-10-12 16:26:53-04

"Police and fire couldn't do it, but Papa John's got there in 30 minutes."

That's what Omaha, Nebraska man Eric Olsen told ABC News after he ordered a pizza for his grandma in Florida to make sure she was alright after he couldn't reach her following Hurricane Matthew.

Olsen told ABC News that he became extremely worried when he wasn't able to reach his 87-year-old grandmother, Claire Olsen, who lives alone in Palm Beach, Florida, after Hurricane Matthew roared through the area on Saturday.

"Well, I talked to her on Friday morning, and she had just lost power and she said, 'This is a nightmare,'" Eric Olsen told ABC News, "and then we didn't hear from her for two days."

He added: "I was calling the police department, I was calling the sheriff's department and no one was answering, so I was really worried."

On Sunday, when he still wasn't able to reach her, he decided to get creative.

"So I just said, 'I'm going to order her a pizza, and if they can deliver it, then I know she's alive,'" Eric Olsen said.

Eric Olsen said that he wrote some special instruction when he placed the pizza order, asking the delivery person to call his phone when they went to deliver it. He then asked the delivery man to put his cellphone to Claire Olsen's ear so he could hear from her and make sure she was alright.

Eric Olsen said that when he heard his grandmother's voice on the other line, he felt "relief, absolute relief."

"Police and fire couldn't do it, but Papa John's got there in 30 minutes and put the cellphone to her ear," Eric Olsen joked.

Read more from ABC news.