Former Olympian gold medalist struggling to get by in Fort Lauderdale
A Fort Lauderdale man was once a winner on the ice in the 1960’s Olympic Games but he’s fallen on tough times and now, fears he’s losing his independence. 7’s Heather Walker investigates.
Team USA Men’s Hockey just made history by winning the gold medal at the 2026 Olympics in Milan, but they weren’t the first!
Robert McVey: “This was our team. There’s the old man, right there.”
Bob McVey was part of the 1960 U.S. Olympic hockey team which was the first to win the gold.
Robert McVey: “Well, Russia was the top team at the time; they were unbeatable. We wound up beating them in the tournament and we also beat Canada, which was another big one.”
After the games, Bob worked in insurance, eventually retiring to this Florida condo with his wife.
She died of cancer and he’s now struggling to live on his own.
He can no longer drive, so he has to walk everywhere.
Anatalie Dean, Caretaker: “One day, I was just driving down A1A, and I just saw this gentleman that was walking, and I thought, you know, I thought he was gonna fall.'”
Anatalie Dean stopped to help, and she quickly realized Bob needed more than a way to get home — he needed someone to care for him.
Anatalie Dean: “He has no family here, he has no friends here. The people that he has befriended have taken advantage of him. So I come, because I want to make sure that he is safe.”
Anatalie is a caretaker by trade, but decided to volunteer her time to help Bob once a week. In doing that, she discovered he was scammed out of close to $300,000. A woman he trusted kept asking him for loans that were never paid back.
Robert McVey: “She was a con artist, definitely a con artist.”
So while he has enough money to survive, he doesn’t have money to make home repairs.
Anatalie Dean: “So right now, his kitchen, he doesn’t have his stove doesn’t work, so we’re not able to make meals. Bob eats sandwiches every day. The bathroom, yes, he is able to go into the bathroom, but it’s not easy to him. Like, he, his vanity is completely gone.”
Also gone is his prized gold medal. He had to sell it to pay for a condo special assessment.
Robert McVey: “And I sold my gold medal as a matter of fact. I didn’t have the money.”
Concerned that this former Olympian was falling through the cracks, Anatalie called 7Investigates to find out if there is any assistance for former athletes like Bob.
We found there is an Olympic relief fund. It was set up to help Olympians like Bob — by a former Olympian.
John Naber: “For those of us whose Olympic games were 20, 30, 40, 50 years ago, we’re off the radar, and so we decided to do something ourselves, to benefit ourselves without trying to undermine what is currently going on at the Olympics.”
John Naber said the relief fund provides small emergency grants, usually under $5,000.
Bob is going to apply. He hopes it will be enough to help him reach one final goal.
Robert McVey: “I want to stay right here until I die.”
So for now, this Olympic legend is relying on people volunteering to help him survive and a GoFundMe page set up by Anatalie.
Heather Walker, 7News.
CONTACT 7 INVESTIGATES:
305-627-CLUE
954-921-CLUE
7Investigates@wsvn.com
