Elderly Brooklyn Man Facing Winter Cold Says Gift of Free Boiler Replacement Is a Blessing

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By Jessica Easthope

When the freezing winter air came creeping into Edgar Ballance’s home, he had nowhere to turn.

“I called my brother up and told him to come light the heater in the basement. The flame went out and he came here checking it out and when he left I couldn’t get it on. You press something at the top but I couldn’t get it on,” Edgar told Currents News.

Edgar asked someone to look at his boiler that was 40-years-old, but he felt like he was being scammed.

“He said the boiler’s too old or something, I told him that I had it running but it’s not running now. He acted like he didn’t care,” Edgar explained.

Edgar doesn’t know exactly how long he sat in his home, before his luck changed.

“One of my supervisors went out and he found the man to be in real dire need. It was very cold, freezing in his home, he had been for several weeks without heat or hot water,” said Anthony Vigilante, the CEO of Vigilante Plumbing, Heating and Air Conditioning.

When one of his technicians was called out to Edgar’s home by a neighbor, he came back shaken.

“He had six sweaters on. IIt was sad to see someone living that way, and we felt it was the right thing to do unto others and help this man get his heat back on,” Anthony said.

It would have cost more than $12,000 to replace Edgar’s boiler and hot water heater. Knowing how desperately he needed it, Vigilante did it for free. The equipment was installed the next day.

“I thank God for that, it was a blessing, and I felt real good, believe me. And I still feel the same way. I can’t even express it,” said Edgar. “If I was a millionaire, I’d show them my appreciation. It meant more to me than the whole world.”

It might come as a surprise, but Anthony says in his line of work, faith comes into play every day.

“Jesus is an example, I’ll never be anywhere near it, but I always try to do as much as I can to follow in His footsteps and do things the way He would do,” he said.

Edgar says he prays every day for protection.

“You see that little cross in the hallway on the steps? Every time I walk out I put my hand on that and ask God to take me and bring me safely and I pray for other people too,” he said. “And when I come home I say, ‘Wow it did me some good.'”

And when Edgar needed it most, his prayers were answered.