Family Couldn’t Contact Grandma After Hurricane, So They Enlisted Help of Unlikely Source…The Pizza Boy

After Hurricane Matthew tore through parts of the east coast, one family got creative to make sure their grandmother was okay.

After Eric Olsen couldn’t get in touch with his 87-year-old grandmother, Claire, he started to get worried. His grandmother, who lives alone in Palm Coast, Florida, had her phone lines disconnected because of the storm, leaving the family unable to contact her.

“Well, I talked to her on Friday morning, and she had just lost power, and she said, ‘This is a nightmare,'” Olsen shared with ABC News. “And then we didn’t hear from her for two days.”

He continued, “I was calling the police department, I was calling the sheriff’s department, and no one was answering, so I was really worried.”

Lucikly, Olsen got creative and thought of a clever way to make sure his grandmother was alive.

“So I just said, ‘I’m going to order her a pizza, and if they can deliver it, then I know she’s alive,'” Olsen explained.

Olsen then called the pizza place with some special instructions, asking the delivery person to call his phone when he brought over the pizza. He also asked if the delivery person could give his phone to his grandmother “so he could hear from her and make sure she was OK,” explained ABC News.

Luckily, the delivery was a success. Olsen said he felt a sense of “relief, absolute relief” after hearing his grandmother’s voice.

“Police and fire couldn’t do it, but Papa John’s got there in 30 minutes and put the cellphone to her ear,” he said.

So, how did Olsen get the idea to check in with pizza?

“I was just thinking, ‘Who can go there right now? Who can I call in a city where I know no one?” Olsen shared. “People are asking why I didn’t call the police and ask them to do a wellness check, but I did. Trust me, Papa John’s was a last resort.”

Olsen, who is from Nebraska, explained they did not have any other relatives in the area. His father lives in South Dakota and his sister in Los Angeles.

Lance Tyler, the man who delivered the pizza, explained that Olsen’s grandmother was a little confused by the delivery.

“He knocked on the door and said, ‘Delivery.’ I said, ‘I didn’t order anything.’ He says, ‘Your grandson did,’” Claire Olsen told WFTV.

Claire Olsen’s phone is currently back up and running.

And the pizza? It was “fantastic,” Claire Olsen said.