Myrtle Beach man quits job to help people in Florida after Hurricane Ian

MYRTLE BEACH, S.C. (WBTW) — Alastar Cogan lived in Cape Coral for two years. When he saw the devastation in the place he once called home, he knew he wanted to do what he could to help. 

He packed up a 1996 Chevy crane, six deep sea batteries and a 25-foot Gooseneck trailer, and he set out on the 10 hour drive to Ft. Myers. He said he knew his time there would not be easy. 

“We’re gonna sleep in a tent for a few nights. There’s gonna be no hotel. We’re gonna be eating canned food off of a propane stove, which is gonna suck, but you know, it has to be done,” Cogan said. 

He said he has a lot of friends that still live in the area, and he could not sit by and watch them struggle through the devastation. 

“To see what they’re going through right now, it really just breaks my heart,” Cogan said. “They didn’t deserve it, and unfortunately, this is the situation that they’re put in, and they just need help.”

The plan is to help clean up the area and see if there are any residents that need help. 

“We’re gonna see if we can help get some trees off of the roadways and out of people’s driveways and maybe even get some boats off of the road,” Cogan said. “Whatever we can do to help.”

Cogan had to make a big sacrifice to take this time down in Florida. 

“I quit my job to go do this,” Cogan said. “When you have a full time employer, and they’re not flexible, and they don’t wanna work with you, you have to make sacrifices in this world.”

Cogan works for maintenance at a Myrtle Beach hotel. He said his employers wanted him to wait a couple weeks to make the trip down, but he could not do that. 

“They don’t need help a week from now,” Cogan said. “They need help now.”

He said he hopes he can make even a little bit of a difference. 

“I don’t really do it for recognition. I just do it out of the kindness of my heart,” Cogan said. “You gotta be a little light in the big span of darkness sometimes.”

Cogan is in Florida now working to help the community. Before he arrived, he told News13 he was “scared to death” to see the extent of the devastation, but he was ready to start doing whatever he could to help.