Help Mike Radford, Victim of Huge Financial Scam

As an author, I have loved the chance to tell the stories of the diehard fans in the Pirate baseball nation. As a fan, that community has become my own. This is a tough story to tell, but it’s also an opportunity for other Pirates to step up to ease the burden of one of their most faithful and vocal members.

Mike Radford sits on the third base side at Clark-LeClair Stadium and travels with the team nearly everywhere; he started attending games with his friend and former ECU player Earl Boykin, and when Boykin died three years ago Mike poured his heart into ECU baseball in Earl’s memory.

Mike’s second passion in his life is being a member of the Knights of Columbus, a Catholic men’s organization, in his church. Mike joined the Knights of Columbus in 1979 while living in Wilson. Being a member of the Knights in Wilson, Council 4660, and in Clemmons, where he served as the second Grand Knight of Council 9499, has provided Mike to do good for others in a “quiet” life, offsetting his very vocal role of Pirate cheerleader at away games and atop the third base dugout.

Recently Mike and his wife Maureen were targeted in a major scam and lost nearly everything they had, the vast majority of their retirement savings. Overnight they went from enjoying their retirement with a cushion for unexpected expenses to having to return to work and scrape together money for monthly bills. The scammers gained access to their accounts and took money out of an existing home equity loan, giving them debt they didn’t have before. Their financial future is now completely uncertain.

As hard as it is to ask for help, Mike knows that his Pirate family is the kind of family that endures through hardship and triumph, and just as he leads cheers through every ECU game he is amplifying this difficult trial in hopes that some in the Pirate nation might feel compelled to donate. The Radfords are hoping to pay off the home equity line, build a fund for unexpected expenses and slowly rebuild some savings, and anything a fellow Pirate can do is so very appreciated.