Edmonton truck driver reunites Fort McMurray's abandoned cars with owners
Human kindness is overflowing in Fort McMurray with people helping those in need any way they can.
Eldon Hankins from Edmonton is trying to do his part, putting long hours on the road to reunite people with their cars. Hankins owns and runs a small trucking company for a little over a year.
When the Fort McMurray wildifre hit the city, he put the word out on Facebook to reunite people with their cars — vehicles residents abandoned on the side of Highway 63 on their flight from the fire and some cars that broke down from the heat.
"I know what it's like not to have a vehicle, and for some people that's all they have left, is their vehicle ... So to have the ability to actually help somebody the way I am, it's the least I can do," says Hankins.
The Current's Julian Uzielli hopped into Hankin's truck on a mission to bring Cory Avery, an equipment operator from Fort McMurray, back together with his abandoned Pontiac G6.
Avery's son Cody was in the driver's seat on May 3. He worked in the oil patch but got laid off before the fire.
"It was like Silent Hill without the sirens," Cody says. His dad recalls the experience as "spooky."
'Driven to Help' was produced by The Current's Julian Uzielli. The Current's documentary editor is Joan Webber.