DISABLED MAN WATCHES A SHOW ON THE TV THAT HELPS HIM RESOLVE A LONG-STANDING MYSTERY OF HIS PAST

 

The life was going very hard on Loren Krytzer. The middle-aged man got his life entirely changed in 2007. He met with an accident in which he lost one of his legs. In the matter of a day, he had become disabled and jobless. Not only that, but he also had to send his children away as he was no longer capable of looking after them. Due to the cash crunch, he had to move out of his house and shift to a cheaper one. There was no trace of happiness in his life. But the fate was not done playing with his life yet. The man was watching a show that literally changed the course of his life.

Loren Krytzer

Life was very different for Loren Krytzer before 2007. He used to work in carpentry and was freelancing. Things were right on the track until a car accident hit him hard. A car collided with the back of his car at the time he was driving it. The accident caused him severe foot injury. That was not the end of his misery.

Drastic Changes

After that unfortunate crash, everything changed in his life. He got himself on dialysis with nerve damages in one of his legs. The man underwent many surgeries that prolonged for a year. But the wounds did not heal. In fact, it was getting worse with time. The doctors then broke a very disturbing piece of news to him.

Bad News

He had got inflicted with microfractures that did not heal and in order to avoid further damage, the doctor advised for amputation. Krytzer remembers, “I kept trying to do the best I could, and finally it got so bad they said, ‘We have to cut your foot off.’”

Losing Everything

His whole world had come crashing down. The man had lost his foot which meant he cannot continue with his previous work anymore. However, he still had to find a way to make money. He applied for disability benefits that ultimately got struck down by the government. His medical expenses were reaching new heights and there was no source of income to meet them.        

Hard Decisions

It is because of that Krytzer had to do a few things that he did not want to. His decisions did not only affect him but his family members as well. The people he loved the most in the world. It was truly heart-breaking.  

Separation

It was difficult for him to feed himself, let alone feeding his family and that is why he decided to send his three children away to Louisiana, his grandparents’ place. “I mean, what do you do?” “I had kids to take care of, no money, you know? Nothing saved up or nothing like that,” Krytzer implied. 

Ignorance

His extended family too began ignoring him. No one was ready to give him any kind of financial support. Gradually, they even stopped contacting him. It was a very difficult situation for him with no one around to help.

The Checks

The man finally got some disability welfare checks. But that too was not of much help as he learned that he will be receiving only $839 which was very small in this mega scheme. It seemed his bad days were never going to get over.   

Help From Friends

Friends are always there to help. His friends gave him a hand of help when they rented a small home for him that was not very far from Palmdale, CA. Krytzer along with his future wife Lisa shifted to the place. “We would literally go to Costco…and get a Costco [brand] hot dog and a Coke ’cause they were $1.50,” Krytzer explained. 

A House

The monthly rent of the house was $700 which seemed to be cheap to them. Krytzer immediately moved into the house. The man had gone back to square one. He had to settle down once again. It was not easy at all for someone like Krytzer who just had got his leg amputated.       

All Negative

Now the man did not have any job and money too was running away. He had to think of something very quickly. It was only going to get worse as not everyone bothers to give a job to a disabled person.

He Was Hopeful

The man did not have much money but eventually, he managed to buy a TV with the little money he had. Little did the man know that the TV he had just bought was going to change the course of his life. He loved watching TV as it would sway him away from the harsh reality for some time. 

Antiques Roadshow

He was a regular viewer of Antiques Roadshow. In fact, the show helped pull him out of the depression he used to slip in sometimes. He was watching the show when something familiar caught his attention.   

Don Ellis

He saw Don Ellis, the appraiser assessing an old blanket. It looked all ordinary and old. The person who had brought the blanket was Ted Kuntz from Tucson, Arizona. Ellis was talking to him. The expert had an uncanny expression on his face. He had a lot to explain to the owner of the blanket. 

The Episode

The blanket came from the Navajo origin. Kit Carson had given this blanket to one of his kins. In case you are not aware, Carson was once a prominent frontiersman who died in 1868. Just a glance on the blanket made Don Ellis realize its importance. The blanket was of Navajo First Phase that happens to be a rare artifact coming in this day and age. But what made his heartbeat stop was the value that this old blanket possessed. 

The Blanket

Don Ellis grabbed the blanket and valued it above $500,000. Well, they heard it right. This old dusty blanket accounted for $500,000. Kuntz could not believe what he heard nor did Krytzer. Whereas Kuntz was happy and surprised both, Krytzer was in disbelief. Was he overreacting? You may think so but he wasn’t.

Locked And Ignored

Well, why did Krytzer get stunned? The reason is that he also had a blanket that looked just like the blanket shown in the show. The design and the cloth looked exactly the same. He tried to recall where he had kept his blanket. And then he remembered his blanket was locked in the closet.  

Souvenir

The blanket was of his late grandmother. His grandmother had promised him some books and when she died he came to her to get the books. But his mother and sister already there. In his words, “Everything was already pillaged through by my sister and my mother.” However, there was one more bag that remained unopened.

Two Blanket

The bag did not contain one blanket but two. His grandma had not allocated the blankets to any of them so his sister took the blanket she liked the most of the two and Krytzer took the other one. 

Dirty Old Thing

He recalls asking his sister about the blanket. “I said, ‘What are you going to do with that?’ She replied, ‘I don’t want that, that dirty old thing.’ I picked it up…put it in my closet and there it sat for seven years.”

Taking It Out

Krytzer went straight to the closet in which the blanket was placed for a long time now. He took the bag out of the closet and pulled the blanket out. He explained, “I paused [the program] and I went and got the blanket and I’m sitting there holding it.” 

Worth Anything

“I’m lining up the lines on the TV with the blanket, seeing if they match. This guy is on TV, the appraiser says $300,000 to $500,000. So I’m thinking maybe this one is worth five to 10 grand.”Nobody Would Pay “$10 For That Thing.”

Old Tatted Blanket

However, his family held a different opinion. Unlike Krytzer they were skeptical about the blanket. It was an old tatted blanket. When he asked his mother about the possibility of making money out of the blanket she replied, “You will not get more than $10.” But her suspicion did not stop him.

Different Opinion

After fetching the blanket, the man ran his eye over the contact list and started making calls to the experts he knew. Thereafter he hopped in his car and drove to many antique stores. However, the shop owners did not seem to be impressed by the blanket. Gradually, his hope began to flicker when he met a dealer who had a different opinion about the blanket.   

Dealers

Krytzer was losing all the hope until someone suggested him to get in touch with Auctioneers Johan Moran, the Native American antique specialists. The expert was very much eager to have a look at the blanket. Soon Krytzer found himself sitting right before the founder’s son, Jeff Moran. The man did a lot of test on the blanket along with inspecting it closely and eventually confirmed its significance.

The Backstory

On being asked how did he get his hands on the blanket, Krytzer explained that his great-great-grandfather was the custodian of the blanket. Having said that, he was also a Dakota trader in the 19th Century. The story seemed to be true to Moran. “A lot of times a blanket or something will come to us and we won’t know the history of it.”

Uncommonly Beautiful

And there was another appraiser Joshua Baer who examined the blanket and came to the same conclusion. Baer explained, “You walk into the room [and] you can tell that you’re looking at something that is not just uncommonly beautiful, but that is still very much part of the time in which it was made.”       

Not Happens Every day

He added, “this has only happened maybe three or four times with an unknown blanket where you see something and you know right away.”

The Amount

Jeff Moran returned to Krytzer after getting over with all the discussion and consultation with colleagues and suggested him an amount he is assuming this blanket would sell in at an auction. He thought the amount to be $200,000 which is a huge amount. 

In Need Of Money

The auction was going to take place in the upcoming months but the man needed money as soon as possible. Moreover, there were many antique collectors who contacted him to buy the blanket. So what was he going to do? Was he going to take one of the offers made by antique buyers or was he going to wait for the auction that his friend had planned?

Paying An Advance

When Jeff Moran got to know about the offers being made to Krytzer, he came up with a solution. He clarified, “I immediately went into crisis mode with [Krytzer]. I said, ‘I’ll tell you what, I’m gonna give you an advance,’” Moran went on to give him $9,000 to go on until the auction takes place.    

Did Everything

Moran reminisces, “I’ve done everything I said I would. Just stay the course.” And fortunately, the man did wait for the auction to take place. This was perhaps the best decision he could ever make. Very soon he was going to learn something astonishing about the blanket.

Day Of Auction

Two weeks went by and the day of auction finally came. Krytzer had no idea how the auction would turn out. “I was thinking [I’d] fix up my car a little bit,” he said. “I started praying, ‘Please be enough to buy a house or something.’” The list of attendees includes Jeff Moran and Joshua Baer.

Rags To Rich

The auction started off with a base value of $150,000. No need to say the amount was big in its own. And then the bidding started which kept on soaring with every second. Each bid would raise up the value by $50,000 and very soon the value had gone up to $1 million. But that is not where the bidding stopped.  It kept on going up. Krytzer and Lisa just could not believe what they saw. 

Over a Minute

This all took place in only 77 seconds. The bidding stopped when an individual made unbelievable bidding that no one dared to beat. It was all done. The blanket was finally sold. Interestingly, the last bidder made his bid through a phone call. Now you must be wondering who was the person who bought the blanket. Well, then hold your breath. You are in for a big surprise. 

The Highest Bidder

The man who phoned in and bought the blanket was none other than Don Ellis himself. Let me refresh your memory. He is the same person Krytzer had seen on that specific episode of Antiques Roadshow. The man was the same person who had put a value to that blanket. 

Sweat Off Hand

Krytzer reminisced, “They had to bring over water and stuff to me and wipe sweat off my head.” The man could not believe what was he hearing. The bidding that began from $150,000 stopped at $1.5 million. Yes, Don Ellis bought the blanket at $1.5 million.  

Krytzer Couldn’t Breathe

It was a remarkable moment for Krytzer. “started hyperventilating because I couldn’t believe it. … Everything just went limp, and I couldn’t catch my breath.” He clearly remembers the last words that wrapped up the auction. “Sold! For $1.5 million!” Krytzer embraced Lisa with tears of joy.  

Money

But before receiving the amount he had to give the tax. “It’s not like it was 40 or 50 years ago.” “If I’d have gotten $1 million 50 years ago, I’d be rich right now. I would literally be rich. “

What Did He Do Next?

Krytzer got $1.3 million in hands after all the taxes. He also learned how to keep money with oneself from Moran who suggested him to invest in municipal bonds, stocks, and buys properties. Now a millionaire, Krytzer came up with a car and two houses. “I never had nothing like that, so I wanted a nice car and I did, I bought one,” he said.  

The Lessons

Moran said, “I paid our CPA for four hours to sit down with Loren.” “We’ve come too far and worked too hard to not do this. … I wanted so much to change his outlook and his journey ahead.” So how was it going?

Vacationing

He even went on a cruise to Mexico along with his wife and daughters. It was a pre-honeymoon trip. “I had never been on a cruise ship,” Krytzer said. He also spent money on the improvement of his health. He rejoiced, “For the first time in years I’m actually able to walk with my wife and hold her hand down the street.”    

But Still

Money hasn’t changed everything in his life. He was happy but still, there were things that could not be changed. “I mean, I have a home, a beautiful home, and several cars, but I’d give anything to still be working.” “Sitting around even if you’re in a nice home or you’re living in a shack, you’re sitting around bored doing nothing.”

Hard Times

With the money came the long lost relatives who had never bothered to help him in his hard times. Krytzer said, “I had people calling me and bugging me and stuff.” “People you haven’t seen in years — family members that don’t talk to you. You get some money, and they’re like, ‘Where’s mine?’”

Not Easy

Along with that, the taxes on the house is driving him crazy. “We’re getting taxed to death here, I can’t afford it,” he explained. “I’m from California, I grew up here, but without working it’s just hard to survive.” They are thinking of shifting to Idaho where taxes are not that burdensome.

Explaining

He justifies, “The taxes on the house is half of what it is here.” “I’m thinking if I can go there I can kind of keep what I have, buy another house … and maybe try to get some kind of part-time job … I’m just hoping that we can survive and keep going.”

All Going Bad

His children’s expectation from him is also not coming down. Krytzer explained, “‘When I first got the money, I helped them out.’ ‘But now it’s like I can’t do it, I don’t have it, and they are like ‘You have millions of dollars, you’re being selfish.”

Twists And Turns

It is still difficult for him to believe that the blanket that stayed in the closet for years actually made him a millionaire. He expressed, “It was just hard to grasp.” “I mean, I worked hard my whole life. I was in construction, I never bought anything, I never saved, I always rented. I bought used cars cause that’s all I could afford. I lived paycheck to paycheck my whole life.”

Turned Life Around

He explained, “I firmly believe I’m here because years ago I turned my life around.” “The things I’ve been through, I tell people it’s a strong faith and a strong mind. Without those things you’re not going to make it.”

It’s Unbelievable

Have you ever heard a story like this? Who knew a useless blanket that was kept in the closet would turn someone’s life around. As they say, we should never judge a book by its cover. This story is just about that.