There are a lot of pretty tragic things that can happen to a person, but being wrongfully sent to prison for a crime they didn’t commit has to top the list.
If you’ve ever seen the movie The Shawshank Redemption, you know exactly how heartbreaking this scenario is, but even then it’s pretty hard to believe the shocking truth. According to researchers, for every 100 people who are sentenced to death, about four of them are actually innocent.
While we know that there are many prisoners like the ones in this video that do in fact turn their lives around, it’s safe to say that most on death row deserve to be there. That’s why life behind bars surrounded by hardened criminals was a true nightmare for Glenn Ford, a man who was wrongfully imprisoned for more than 30 years. When Ford’s case was reopened and new evidence proved his innocence in 2015, he was released and became “the longest-serving death row exoneree in America,” according to the following NBC report.
Instead of trying to help Ford regain his stolen life, the Louisiana State Prison he spent three decades in gave him just $20 and sent him on his way. The 65-year-old was owed more than $300,000 in restitution, but when he was quickly denied the money to start over, a surprising person came to bat for him.
The man who put him behind bars, prosecutor Marty Stroud, made a public apology for convicting the wrong man. However, once Stroud came face to face with Ford, things were a bit different. Only a short while after Ford was released from prison, his life was destroyed all over again. Ford has just months to live, as he is suffering from stage IV lung cancer.
The moment Stroud comes to Ford’s bedside to apologize can only be described as heartbreaking.
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