(WSVN) – A Fort Lauderdale man was once a winner on the ice in the 1960 Olympic Games, but he\u2019s fallen on tough times, and now he fears he\u2019s losing his independence. 7\u2019s Heather Walker investigates.<\/p>\n
Team USA Men\u2019s Hockey just made history by winning the gold medal<\/a> at the 2026 Olympics in Milan, but they weren\u2019t the first.<\/p>\n Robert McVey: \u201cThis was our team. There\u2019s the old man, right there.\u201d<\/p>\n Bob McVey was part of the 1960 U.S. Olympic hockey team, which was the first to win the gold.<\/p>\n Robert McVey: \u201cWell, Russia was the top team at the time; they were unbeatable. We wound up beating them in the tournament, and we also beat Canada, which was another big one.\u201d<\/p>\n After the games, Bob worked in insurance, eventually retiring to this Florida condo with his wife.<\/p>\n She died of cancer, and he\u2019s now struggling to live on his own.<\/p>\n He can no longer drive, so he has to walk everywhere.<\/p>\n Anatalie Dean, caretaker: \u201cOne day, I was just driving down A1A, and I just saw this gentleman that was walking, and I thought, you know, I thought he was gonna fall.’\u201d<\/p>\n Anatalie Dean stopped to help, and she quickly realized Bob needed more than a way to get home \u2014 he needed someone to care for him.<\/p>\n Anatalie Dean: \u201cHe has no family here, he has no friends here. The people that he has befriended have taken advantage of him. So I come, because I want to make sure that he is safe.\u201d<\/p>\n Anatalie is a caretaker by trade, but decided to volunteer her time to help Bob once a week. In doing that, she discovered he was scammed out of close to $300,000. A woman he trusted kept asking him for loans that were never paid back.<\/p>\n Robert McVey: \u201cShe was a con artist, definitely a con artist.\u201d<\/p>\n So while he has enough money to survive, he doesn\u2019t have money to make home repairs.<\/p>\n Anatalie Dean: \u201cSo right now, his kitchen, he doesn\u2019t have his stove, doesn\u2019t work, so we\u2019re not able to make meals. Bob eats sandwiches every day. The bathroom, yes, he is able to go into the bathroom, but it\u2019s not easy to him. Like, he, his vanity is completely gone.\u201d<\/p>\n Also gone is his prized gold medal. He had to sell it to pay for a condo special assessment.<\/p>\n Robert McVey: \u201cAnd I sold my gold medal, as a matter of fact. I didn\u2019t have the money.\u201d<\/p>\n Concerned that this former Olympian was falling through the cracks, Anatalie called 7 Investigates to find out if there is any assistance for former athletes like Bob.<\/p>\n We found there is an Olympic relief fund. It was set up to help Olympians like Bob \u2014 by a former Olympian.<\/p>\n John Naber: \u201cFor those of us whose Olympic games were 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago, we\u2019re off the radar, and so we decided to do something ourselves, to benefit ourselves without trying to undermine what is currently going on at the Olympics.\u201d<\/p>\n John Naber said the relief fund provides small emergency grants, usually under $5,000.<\/p>\n Bob is going to apply. He hopes it will be enough to help him reach one final goal.<\/p>\n Robert McVey: \u201cI want to stay right here until I die.\u201d<\/p>\n So, for now, this Olympic legend is relying on people volunteering to help him survive and a GoFundMe<\/a> page set up by Anatalie.<\/p>\n Heather Walker, 7News.<\/p>\n