‘This was a big surprise, I had no idea’ | Soldier’s Wish gifts check to veteran

BROKEN ARROW, Okla. (KTUL) — This veteran has been a part of the Broken Arrow community for almost 25 years.

He is currently battling heart issues which led to an open-heart surgery in a different state.

The bills were stacking up while he couldn’t work, so Soldier’s Wish decided to step in and ease the stress.

“Out there were you expecting a check from Soldier’s Wish?” asked NewsChannel 8.

“I was not expecting a check. That was a big surprise. They asked me to come out for the hometown heroes tonight, but I had no idea that they were surprising me with a gift,” said Broken Arrow Battalion Chief, Jeremy Roberts.

“I have been trying to get him to an event to honor him as a hometown hero for some time and we finally got him here. And then we just took it a little bit further and made sure to grant him a little wish to do positive impact in their lives,” said Broken Arrow Mayor & Soldier’s Wish executive director, Debra Wimpee.

Jeremy Roberts served as a merchant marine and has been working for the Broken Arrow Fire Department for the last 24 years.

He is currently a Battalion chief who has been facing some difficult challenges within the last year.

He has had some heart problems which led to an infection that affected his heart muscles, which then led to a stroke, and finally to Minnesota where he underwent open heart surgery.

The funds that Soldier’s Wish granted him at the Tulsa Oilers game will go toward medical bills and relieve the firefighter’s stress level.

“I’ve had to have open heart surgery in the first part of April. So, I’m just now recovering and actually went back to light duty this work and started working again, said Chief Roberts. I’ve had a few months where I was able to work but for the last year, I have been off for almost 10 months of it.”

He was coming just to be honored and represent the military but when he found out that he had been honored by Soldier’s Wish, he called it mind-blowing.

Originally you would have to submit your name for Soldier’s Wish’s help.

This time the Broken Arrow Mayor took matters into her own hands and is giving back to more veterans.

“To go one step further and just finish out that GoFundMe page so that they won’t have to worry about that is amazing. And to think that he is just a little over a month out from an open-heart surgery and he is doing so good, said Mayor Wimpee. We are just going to keep praying for him and just believing he just keeps getting better. Hopefully, those bills will be done, and they will not have that stress anymore.”

The Battalion Chief’s GoFundMe was set at 10,000 dollars and the balance that soldiers wish gave him was the remaining balance on that GoFundMe page.

If you would like to submit someone’s name to become a recipient of soldier wish click here.