Police Sgt. Stephen Wick, a member of the Houston Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Team, was caught on camera helping to clean the feet of a homeless man, and the photo has gone viral.
The homeless man in question is a 75-year-old named Quintus, whom Wick said had gotten to know over the past year through his work with the outreach squad.
According to Wick, Quintus has glaucoma, which has left him practically blind. Several weeks ago, Wick and his partner saw Quintus aimlessly wandering the streets, obviously in need of help, so they brought him to a safe area close to the Homeless Outreach headquarters.
While watching Quintus walk, Wick said he could tell immediately he was in pain and needed assistance.
“His toenails were so long they were cutting into his feet. You just feel compassion for the man, so you want to help him,” he said.
Wick said his mother has dementia so he has had to cut her toe nails before and felt he should do the same for Quintus, who clearly could not do it himself.
While Wick was cutting Quintus’ toe nails, his partner took a picture of him and posted it on the Houston Police Officers’ Union Facebook page.
The picture quickly went viral, but Wick says he’s far more concerned about getting Quintus off the street than he is about his 15 minutes of fame.
“Quintus is old and blind and he needs an advocate and that’s what we’re doing for him,” Wick said. “We will work with him until we can get him off the street.”