Man with only 6 months to live faces eviction

SAVANNAH, Ga. (WTOC) - A man given six months to live by hospice is facing eviction from his Savannah apartment complex.

David Cole and two friends who care for him say they have three days to come up with nearly $4,000 or they will be evicted.

Roommate describes situation

Thursday brought new problems for three men living at Apache Apartments in Savannah.

“I want him to pass away at his house, just like his mother asked for me to do,” said Bobby Forkner, an Apache Apartments resident.

Cole faces several medical conditions, including dementia, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia.

“He does not need hardship in his life at this time. It would just be detrimental to his health,” said Frank Falco, a caretaker.

Forkner, Cole’s roommate, said the group fell behind on rent because medical bills and medication had to come first.

“Little by little, we was kind of sinking, but I’ve been doing everything I could do to try to survive,” Forkner said.

Payment plan dispute

Forkner said hospice is now covering the medical bills, but according to him, the apartment complex has gone back on a verbal agreement to let the group set up a payment plan to repay their debt. Thursday morning the group thought they had until the end of the month to come up with the money.

“And I will stick to the payment arrangement and get you paid, but don’t disturb his life because over some money,” Forkner said.

Hours before this report, the group received a red eviction notice giving them three days to pay nearly $4,000.

Forkner said that if it wasn’t for Cole, they would just move out, but because he has dementia, a consistent living condition is important for his health.

When I reached out to the property manager at Apache Apartment Complex, she said she cannot discuss resident information with another party.

“If you had any feeling in your heart, you would let a man that’s got only six months left to live stay where he’s at and let me stick to that payment arrangement that we had made,” Forkner said.

Forkner said he is doing everything he can to honor Cole’s mother’s dying wish to care for and watch over her son. He is asking anyone with additional resources or who can help to reach out to him.

Forkner and Cole have started a GoFundMe to help raise money for rent. That information can be found at gofund.me/90c701f06.