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Community rallies behind cancer survivor who says he was told to cover his face

Posted at 3:13 PM, Oct 12, 2018
and last updated 2018-10-12 17:13:19-04

WALTERBORO, S.C. – A community in South Carolina has rallied behind a cancer survivor who said he was told to cover his face while at a store in Walterboro.

Kirby Evans, who lost his nose and one of his eyes during a battle with cancer, told WCSC he was asked  to cover up if he wanted to eat at the store and gas station called the Forks Pit Stop. “It hurt deep inside. I’ve never been treated like that. Never,” Kirby said.

His daughter, Brandy, shared more details on Facebook.  She said on Monday, her father went into the store to buy a pack of donuts and a drink. Brandy said when her dad went to sit down at one of the tables to eat, the owner grabbed him by his shirt, pulled him into her office and told him to cover his face.

“My father is a cancer survivor he lost his left eye and nose to this awful cancer. My father was discriminated against because of the way he looks. He cannot help what the cancer did to him. My father is the strongest man I know but, as he told me what happened to him, I watched tears roll out of his eye. It hurt me to see him hurt like this, especially over something he cannot help.”

According to Brandy, the store employee commented on her Facebook post and said she was not trying to hurt Brandy’s father; she reportedly wrote, “I had no choice! It was running my customers off.”

WCSC said the store owner could not be reached for comment, but through her husband she told the TV station the store is wrongfully accused.

Thousands of people have shared Brandy’s Facebook post. According to WCSC, several people met Kirby for breakfast at a different restaurant.