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A group of Arizona bank employees sprang into action to help a longtime neighborhood food vendor escape a powerful storm, pulling him and his cart inside as strong winds and hail battered the Phoenix area in a heartwarming rescue caught on video.
The incident occurred at a PNC Bank branch as severe weather swept through the Phoenix area last week, prompting employees to help a local vendor caught in the storm, according to FOX 10 Phoenix.
Video posted by an individual inside the bank shows an employee helping the vendor, identified as Hilario Cruz Cruz, pull his food cart inside as wind and hail batter the area.
The video quickly went viral online, amassing more than 1 million views on TikTok and hundreds of thousands of likes.
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Hilario Cruz recalled struggling against powerful winds as bank employees helped pull his food cart inside during a storm in Phoenix. (Claudia Marquez; FOX 10 Phoenix)
“With one hand, I held the door against the strong wind blowing it, and with my other hand I pulled the cart inside. The young man was doing the same on his side. If I had been anywhere else, maybe they wouldn’t have been able to help me like that,” Cruz Cruz said in an interview with FOX 10 Phoenix through a translator.
According to Cruz Cruz, the bank employees were longtime customers who had been buying food from his cart for years.
He believes that connection inspired them to step in.
“They said, ‘He’s not going anywhere else, he stays here, and we’re bringing the cart inside.’ I said, ‘It won’t fit,’ but the manager said, ‘I know it will,’” he said.
Cruz Cruz, who was left drenched after the incident, said he had to navigate fallen trees and branches on his way home after the storm passed.
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Phoenix food vendor Hilario Cruz Cruz said employees at a local PNC Bank helped him escape severe weather after recognizing him as a longtime neighborhood vendor. (FOX 10 Phoenix)
A week later, however, he was back selling elotes and fresh fruit along Peoria Avenue.
Cruz Cruz said business has been booming since the video went viral.
“I deeply appreciate my long-term customers. That’s why they didn’t leave me outside,” Cruz Cruz said. “I am profoundly grateful to the bank manager and employees, because thanks to them nothing bad happened to me.”
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PNC Bank employees help a local food vendor pull his cart inside as powerful winds and hail sweep through Phoenix, Arizona. (Claudia Marquez)
Fox News Digital has reached out to PNC Bank for additional information.