(WSVN) - There are some real characters in South Florida. Some people you meet and never forget. And, like many of us, they have problems to deal with as well, which is why many of them contacted Help Me Howard with Patrick Fraser.
Terry Richards is not one of a kind, but he is kind of different.
Terry Richards: “I am not gay. I am a heterosexual male who enjoys women’s clothing.”
The 6-foot-tall Terry used to just dress up at home. Now he’s decided, what the heck…
Terry Richards: “I retired — I guess you call it — I retired as a guy and became a girl, but decided to enjoy my life the way I wanted to enjoy it.”
Terry called us because he was worried, if he got stopped by a cop while dressed up, could he get in trouble for impersonating a woman? Legally, no. You can dress up any way you want.
Terry Richards: “I’m very happy. Can’t you tell?”
In the year the Donald Trump fans came roaring out, Nikos Henry was told, ‘Put it away.’ His cap, that is.
Nikos Henry: “I’ve gotten heckled. Some guy threw a soda in my car with the window open and said, ‘Screw Trump.'”
Nikos called us after, he says, a gym barred him for wearing his “Make America Great Again” Trump cap.
Nikos Henry: “You can’t wear a hat. It’s just insane.”
Nikos made us laugh…
Laverne: “I looked up and I saw smoke coming out of the window.”
Laverne scared us to death.
Laverne: “This sun got me ill. I think I am going to pass out.”
Johnnie Uzarek: “Let’s go to the shade.'”
While walking with our photographer Johnnie at a property she was battling Miami Gardens over, Laverne passed out. Fire rescue took her away.
Laverne: “I just felt dizzy.”
Fortunately, our record is intact. We haven’t hurt anyone we tried to help.
We visited Laverne at the hospital, where she was great and ready to go after the city again.
Laverne: “I got polio when I was 6 months old.”
If anyone had a right to complain about life, it would be Rich Rahmey.
Rich Rahmey: “Broke my already dislocated hip.”
But Rich called us to help fight a nursing center over money he says they owed him … and Rich is still going after them.
Rich Rahmey: “The fact that Channel 7 is willing to extend themselves further to pursue this is really a wonderful thing.”
Not every memorable person was a person.
Lori called us to try to find out what happened to this little kid.
Lori: “It was just precious. It was just beautiful. It was sweet. It was going ‘bahhhh.'”
Lori said she returned the billy goat to a pet store. The store owner said, ‘No you didn’t.”
The billy goat is still missing.
And then there was Cleo, who loves to sing to the elderly at nursing homes.
Cleo: “And they just get a kick out of it.”
We got a kick out of Cleo, and after we helped her, she made up a little song to make sure we never will forget her.
Cleo: (singing) “Thank you, thank you, thank you, Channel 7, Help Me Howard. Help Me Howard. And he did. He did help me.”
You know what I have learned doing Help Me Howard? Everybody has a story. Everybody is interesting. So we are all characters. Some bigger characters than others.
Someone really got your goat? Ready to dress things up a little differently? Contact us. Hopefully we will leave you singing a different tune.
CONTACT HELP ME HOWARD:
Email: helpmehoward@wsvn.com
Reporter: Patrick Fraser at pfraser@wsvn.com
Miami-Dade: 305-953-WSVN
Broward: 954-761-WSVN
On Twitter: @helpmehoward7
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