Community rallies behind cancer survivor in SC who says he was asked to cover facial scars

CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) - More than 8,000 people have shared a Facebook post about a man who said he was asked to cover his face inside a Walterboro store.

“I feel somebody reach up and grab me like this and jerk me into her office,” Evans said.

Kirby Evans said someone who works at Forks Pit Stop asked him on Monday to cover his face if he wanted to eat food he bought at the store.

Evans lost one of his eyes and his nose during a fight with cancer.

Evans said he has been eating at Forks for a long time, but this is the first time he was asked to cover his face.

“It hurt deep inside,” Evans said. “I’ve never been treated like that. Never.”

Evans’ daughter, Brandy Evans, posted about the incident on Tuesday.

“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,” Brandy said in her Facebook post. “It hurt me to see him hurt like this, especially over something he cannot help.”

Since Brandy published the story, she said almost everyone in Walterboro had shared or at least seen the post.

“It’s really made me proud to watch everybody rally around him and let him know that he doesn’t have to hide his battle scars,” Brandy said.

Brandy said the person who her father says did this commented on her Facebook post and said in part, “I in no way tried to hurt your father,” and, “I had no choice! It was running my customers off.”

One employee at Forks said the story upset her so much that this is what she has to say about her future of working there: “No, this right here is my resignation,” Forks employee Brandy Harley said. “I’m fed up with this place.”

There’s a lot of frustration from the Walterboro community over this story, but Kirby is focusing more on the support he’s seen from the community since the post was made.

“I’m telling you what, I didn’t know there’s that many people out there that cared,” Kirby said. “But there are. They’re out there. Everywhere.”

The owner of Forks Pit Stop could not be reached for comment. Her husband responded and told us that she was emotionally upset and can’t talk about what happened, but that the store is wrongfully accused.

Employees at the store said Thursday that the owner had not been to work since the incident allegedly happened.

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