Caretaker Saw Man Alone in the Heat, Then Learned He Was Olympian Who Sold Gold Medal to Try and Stay Independent (Exclusive)

Bob McVey tells PEOPLE he is "so grateful" for Anatalie Dean, who spotted him walking alone in Florida one day last year and pulled over to help

NEED TO KNOW

• Professional caretaker Anatalie Dean saw Bob McVey walking alone in the Florida heat one day and stopped her car to check on the 90-year-old man
• The interaction led to a life-changing friendship, and allowed McVey — a member of the 1960 men’s Olympic ice hockey team — to renovate his apartment, which was lacking key items like a functional stove
• McVey tells PEOPLE he’s “so grateful” for Dean’s companionship and help, while she says he’s a “humble” and “loving” person

Anatalie Dean was shocked to see an elderly man walking by himself in the Florida heat last year, stopping her car to make sure he was alright. Much to her surprise, she soon learned he wasn't just any resident of the Sunshine State, but an Olympic gold medalist who needed care after falling on hard times.

Dean, who runs her own business, Nurturing Nest Senior Care Services, quickly stepped in to help Bob McVey.

"I didn't see him as my potential client. I saw him as, 'Oh my God, this man is gonna fall,' " Dean, 47, tells PEOPLE.

Although McVey, 90, told her, "I don't have any money," and initially brushed off her offer, she kept insisting that wasn't an issue and they ultimately exchanged numbers.

After first crossing paths in April 2025, Dean went to his home for the first time that May to help clean his bathroom.

When she arrived, she discovered he was living alone without kitchen essentials like a working stove — and his condo was missing necessary additions that would allow him to move safely throughout the space.

After that first visit, she returned regularly to help him out with laundry, getting his mail and, after learning he'd been relying on sandwiches from a nearby gas station for meals, taking him out to get food.

But that wasn't the only thing she'd come to learn.

A Facebook message Dean sent to his stepdaughter led to the revelation that he was an Olympian who had been part of the gold medal-winning men's hockey team from 1960.

McVey's stepdaughter also told Dean that he had been scammed out of money years ago by a woman who had asked for loans, but never paid him back. At one point, when times were particularly tough financially, he even sold his gold medal and hockey jersey to help pay for his home, where he'd been living alone since his wife died.

While the experience left him hesitant to trust someone new, McVey knew he would be safe with Dean. He tells PEOPLE, "I just felt it."

She began coming by weekly to help him out — and still does, to this day — and this January, asked one of the employees from her care business to come help McVey twice a week, completely free of charge.

"He doesn't give me a dime, but I make sure that he gets that same service that my other clients get that do pay," she says.

Dean was beginning to start the process of renovating his home earlier this year, when local Fox and ABC affiliate WSVN aired a segment about him. Donations began to pour in and Dean also created a GoFundMe to help cover additional costs.

Before she knew it, local contractor Jeff Cohen volunteered his services for free and BrandsMart stepped up to donate appliances to McVey.

Once the renovations are fully completed, Dean plans to use any leftover funds to help reach her goal of providing care for McVey seven days a week.

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McVey, who is extremely grateful for the help, tells PEOPLE he feels "fantastic" knowing he can live safely in his home, which has been freshly painted, given new blinds and furniture and updated with wood flooring to replace his old rug.

"This place is all beautiful, clean, painted, nice and everything," he says. "It's gorgeous."

"I just thought it was unbelievable that they would take the time to help an old man," he says of the strangers who pitched in to his GoFundMe. "At 90 years old, it was just nice of them."

"I'm very happy to be here, to sit comfortably here and look out the window and look at the ocean," he adds. "I'm just so blessed."

While Dean has changed McVey's life at home, she's also become an irreplaceable companion to the Olympian, who calls them the "best of friends."

To celebrate his 90th birthday on March 14, Dean bought McVey a new outfit and took him out to dinner, where they danced and were joined by some of his friends.

"My friend Anatalie has been so nice to me, and I'm so grateful for all of the things that she has done for me," he says, adding, "it's just a nice experience to be have somebody that will help you move on in life."

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