Police in Cornwall, Ont. are being commended for buying back a senior's wedding ring after he pawned it so he could afford groceries, The Cornwall Seaway News reported Monday.
Officers were called to a home over the weekend where an elderly couple was arguing.
They soon learned the man's wife was living with dementia. And after 54 years of marriage, he was having trouble affording food and caring for her at the same time.
Police stepped up for the couple in a big way. They pooled $150 out of their own pockets to buy groceries, and an additional $130 to buy back the ring.
Cornwall Community Police Services Board vice-chair Coun. Andre Rivette said you could have heard a "pin drop" in council chambers when he told this story on Monday night.
"They broke out with applause, they were just very moved by it," he told The Huffington Post Canada.
The officers who helped will receive letters of commendation in their personnel files, Rivette said. The Alzheimer's Society and the Community Care Access Centre have also been informed about the couple.
The pair have no children, nor any relations in the city, Rivette said, and are "basically alone" to deal with their finances.
"It was one of those stories that is a heartwarming story in the middle of winter," he said.
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