A World War II veteran and former prisoner of war has become a hero once again this time through organ donation at the remarkable age of 101.

Chuck Leman died from a heart condition on Oct. 6, 2025, but his final act of generosity will help up to 75 people through tissue donation, according to Gift of Life Michigan.

Watch Carli Petrus' video report below: Michigan World War II veteran becomes organ donor at 101, helping up to 75 people

"It means a lot to know that dad gave so much in life and in passing," said Chris Leman, Chuck's son.

Chuck Leman had marked on his driver's license that he wanted to be an organ donor, a decision that surprised even his family given his advanced age.

A lifetime of service

Chuck Leman's service to others began more than 80 years ago when he was drafted into the U.S. Army in 1943 at just 18 years old.

"I understand it was the first induction of 18-year-olds and he and a number of people from that part of Illinois were inducted into the Army," Chris Leman said.

After extensive training in the U.S., Chuck Leman's division joined the front lines in Belgium during the Battle of the Bulge, where he was captured and became a prisoner of war.

"He came across a German machine gun emplacement and they were shot at and my dad was wounded in the neck and the head," Chris Leman said.

Chuck Leman endured extreme hunger, forced labor and freezing temperatures during his captivity.

"Dad lost some toes to frostbite," Chris Leman said.

Chuck Leman was eventually freed on April 14, 1945 by Allied forces.

Building a new life

Returning home, Chuck Leman began a new chapter, marrying his high school sweetheart, Dorothy, in 1948. The couple raised three children Jude, Tom and Chris while moving from Nashville to New York City before settling in Detroit around 1955.

"And after a couple of years of working for the city of Detroit, they formed their owned architecture, landscaping and urban planning firm," Chris Leman said.

Chuck Leman lived a long and full life before reaching 101 years old.

Age is just a number

Just an hour after Chuck Leman's passing, Chris received a surprising call from Gift of Life Michigan.

"I was happy to receive the call, interested to received the call, but rather surprised to think that dad could be a donor at his age," Chris Leman said.

Hear more about the donation from Chris Leman below: Web extra: Son talks about 101-year-old father's impact after serving in Army and organ donation

Patrick Wells O'Brien with the state's organ and tissue donation organization says in this case, age really is just a number.

"It's one of those things that people don't think is true, but there's really no upper age limit to be a tissue donor," O'Brien said.

Chuck Leman's final act of generosity, donating his skin, will help up to 75 people.

"Chuck is truly a hero in giving really this. He's sacrificed so much for this country. He's a hero and now he's a hero again," O'Brien said.

Chris Leman says his father's quiet kindness left an unforgettable legacy.

"He was somebody who I think a lot of people respected for his quiet wisdom. This is just another example of dad giving quietly. He was a great example for us," Chris Leman said.

How to become a donor

With 58% of Michiganders registered as organ donors, O'Brien says it's easy to register if you aren't already. Next time you renew your license, all you have to do is check the box and get the iconic heart symbol on your driver's license a small act that could save dozens of lives.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

A 26-year-old Canton woman crashed her car through the windows of an Ulta Beauty store on Woodward Avenue in Royal Oak early Sunday morning after fleeing from a traffic stop, according to police.

Katrina Patterson was arrested and charged with several felonies, including malicious destruction of a building, following the incident that occurred just after 12:30 a.m.

Watch Carli Petrus' video report below: Alleged drunken driver crashes through Ulta Beauty store windows in Royal Oak

Police video shows Patterson's car ramming through the cosmetic store's windows. Once inside the building, Patterson attempted to escape again by backing up and hitting a police car before driving deeper into the store, causing additional damage.

"She just crashed into Ulta, crashed into Ulta," an officer said as frantic police communications captured the moment of impact.

The incident began as a routine traffic stop in a nearby neighborhood before Patterson fled from officers. Police say she was intoxicated at the time of her arrest.

Community member Beth Armstrong watched the police video and expressed shock at the incident.

"I mean, it's just wild. I don't know the story, what was happening, but it's crazy," Armstrong said.

Watch dash camera video clips of the incident below: Videos: Dashcam of suspected drunken driver crashing into Ulta Beauty store during chase

Armstrong recalled her own experience being hit by an impaired driver about five years ago while pulling into the children's hospital where she worked.

"I was pulling into the children's hospital actually that I worked at and was side swiped by somebody and she seemed to drive away but also kept stopping and going, hit me again, and then turned into another one of the hospital parking lots and hit a sidewalk and there were people walking to and from work," Armstrong said.

"I just wish people paid more attention to one another, like be more mindful of your neighbor whether you know them or not and don't put someone else's life at risk for a good time or to numb some feelings," Armstrong said.

Patterson's bond is set at $50,000. The exact amount of damage caused both inside and outside the Ulta store remains unknown. The popular beauty store is currently boarded up with no timeline for reopening.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

Winter's knocking, and Michigan State Police have one big message: slow down. We're spotlight that warning as we kick off Winter Hazards Awareness week.

I got to go to the MSP Skid Pad in Lansing for an inside look at how to safely recover while losing control on the ice. MSP is giving us all the tips and tricks to make sure we're prepared on the road.

Watch Carli's report in the video player below MSP encouraging safe driving habits during winter months

In hopes of avoiding more crashes this winter, Michigan State Police are reminding drivers how to stay safe ahead of all the ice and show.

"It's coming," said First Lt. Michael Shaw, referring to winter.

F/Lt. Shaw said the most important thing to keep in mind is that weather doesn't cause crashes; drivers do.

If youre going way too fast or if youre driving way too close to somebody else, that just amplifies the problems with the weather as it goes along," F/Lt. Shaw said.

The agency invited us out Monday to its Precision Drive Track to get some hands-on winter driving experience.

Sergeant Eddie Mazurski first showed us how it's done on the MSP skid pad.

Were talking about skid control and how to recover from a skid or what to do if youre in a skid," Sgt. Mazurski said. So, no break, no throttle, just steering through it.

Then it was my turn. Sgt. Mazurski told me to start steering towards a white-striped cone, and I braked as I hit the skid out of instinct. I'm told that's something that a lot of people do.

Yep, people have that instinct that they need to brake, but that just makes things worse," Sgt. Mazurski said. So, when youre catching it, you have to go fast for that hand over hand. As soon as you feel it start to go, you have to go right to that hand over hand, so just go as fast as you can.

I eventually got the hang of it on my third attempt.

And Mazurski said you can do it too: just remember, drive slow, don't brake in a skid, turn into the skid with quick, hand-over-hand steering, and above all, don't panic.

Troopers told me it's up to us to do our part: slow down, stay alert and stay in control, so everyone makes it home safely this winter.

Students at Flat Rock Community Schools are organizing a food drive to help families facing food insecurity as uncertainty around SNAP benefits continues to grow.

Watch Carli Petrus's video report: Flat Rock students organize food drive amid growing SNAP benefit uncertainty

The student-run initiative partners with the non-profit Helping Hands of Community Lutheran Church to collect canned and boxed food items for families in need throughout the community.

"It's hard to raise your kids or come to school when you don't know when your next meal is," said Drew Wilde, principal of Flat Rock Community High School.

Wilde said the need has never been greater, as concerns about SNAP benefits persist.

"If they don't have their benefits, you know, they're only going to get a portion of them, then that means that families are going to have to make some very serious sacrifices, and if we're able to alleviate some of that for them, that's what we'll do as a community," Wilde said.

RELATED STORY: Clinton Twp. teacher's food pantry helps students during SNAP benefit crisis Clinton Twp. teacher's food pantry helps students during SNAP benefit crisis

Students have turned the food drive into a friendly competition between schools. Bobcean Elementary and the high school have teamed up as "Team Evergreen," while the middle school and Barnes Elementary form "Team Meadows."

"What we're doing is we're actually pairing the schools up as teams, so we're having Bobcean Elementary and the high school team up as 'Team Evergreen', and then we're head-to-head with 'Team Meadows', which is the middle school and Barnes Elementary. We're going to see who can raise the most food for our community," said 12th grader Megan, a student organizer.

Fifth-grader Trevor, a student council member on Team Meadows, created posters with classmates to encourage donations.

"I'm a student council member and I made a poster about this with my other classmate to encourage people to donate," Trevor said.

For 12th-grader Alexia on Team Evergreen, the cause hits close to home through a friend's experience.

"She was talking about how she was struggling, her family was struggling personally because they can't afford food, and how this food drive is potentially going to help them to put food on the table. They have a large family; they have more than just two of them; they need food," Alexia said.

Alexia explained that many families face uncertainty about their food supply, especially during the holiday season.

"They don't know when the end of their food supply may come so some people may have SNAP benefits, still left and those might just go away like they might just run out of them or they might have money right now but because of the holiday season, because of Thanksgiving, they might not have money to afford food later on and that's what this food drive is mainly for," Alexia said.

The food drive runs through November 14. Community members can drop off non-perishable food items at the schools' main offices.

This story was reported on-air by a journalist and has been converted to this platform with the assistance of AI. Our editorial team verifies all reporting on all platforms for fairness and accuracy.

As we transition from fall to the holidays, finding decorations may be a little tougher this year.

Tariffs and supply chain issues are hitting businesses right before the most wonderful time of the year, including at one family-owned craft store that's been part of the Center Line community for decades.

"Ive been doing this for over 30 years and weve never had to deal with anything like this," Vince Paine, the owner of Dealer's Discount Crafts and Florals in Center Line, said.

Dealer's offers just about every Christmas decoration you can imagine, from pink and gold trees to nutcrackers.

"All the ornaments you could ever want, baskets for gift baskets, we sell florals, ribbons," Paine said.

It's a beloved discount supplier in the community, and Paine said this year has been especially difficult, with tariffs to blame.

"We usually have a lot more variety. Since the factories shut down in the spring due to all the tariffs, didnt know what was going other than happen so they stopped producing the stuff and then when there was a 90-day window, everybody tried to rush and get everything shipped and that caused the freight prices to almost double, the ocean freight, so, that was even a bigger hit than the actual tariff cost," Paine said.

Oakland University supply chain expert, Dr. Henry Aigbedo, said global tariffs are pushing prices up, with businesses eating most of those extra costs right now.

"When you have tariffs on goods, whats going to happen is that the prices of those items is going to go up," Aigbedo said.

The tariffs are also tightening up the supply.

"Companies now have to make decisions as whether to continue to purchase the product or whether they will now need to look for new sources to get the items if they are too expensive.

He says the impact's slowly trickling down to consumers.

"When we talk about these Christmas decorations, a lot of them do come from China, so can we expect them to cost more this year? I asked Aigbedo.

"The answer is yes, but like I said before, mainly because of the expectation that the tariffs are going to make things more expensive, many of these companies brought in a lot of goods, so theyre going to be able to sell from what they have. But even then, you do not have enough to meet the regular demand," he said.

Depending on what you're buying, Aigbedo says you could see Christmas decorations priced up to 15% higher this year.

Consumers I spoke with say they haven't seen or heard anything yet, but neither higher prices, nor lower supply, would impact their shopping habits when it comes to buying decorations.

It's not going to matter. Im still going to buy the stuff I need to buy," one person told us.

"I have some stuff at home that I purchased last year that I already had, but if I need new lights, because you know, lights go out all the time, Ill definitely go out and get lights," another consumer told us.

Aigbedo said consumers should buy early and don't stress too much.

Paine said he's doing his best to shield customers from those rising costs.

"For this year, were going to keep them the same. We ended up eating the cost on those with the extra charges for this year, trying to help our customers out," Paine said. Next year at this time, if things arent better, we are going to have to pass along some of those costs in order to stay open.

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