Sweet as a Cup'a Sugar: Del City watermelon seller promises a comeback after wrecking his truck, trailer

DEL CITY, Okla. (KFOR) – Stranded in his front yard, Russell Walker was busy making phone calls early on a Tuesday morning, hoping to get his truck and trailer repaired after a scary wreck while picking up watermelons near Rush Springs, Oklahoma.

He described what happened Saturday morning on Highway 81, "She slammed into my trailer. The trailer came off the hitch and threw it. Her truck went up over the trailer and ended up on the other side."

Any other summer day Walker is parked on a roadside selling melons.

Describing his love for what he does, Walker says, "I live to serve and I serve to live."

"They call me the 'sweeter than a cup of sugar watermelon man'. My motto is, 'come get a sweet taste of heaven here on earth'."

He says he could have died in that accident.

"But I'm alive," he smiles. "I have to be thankful."

So what does ma man as sweet as he is to with a sour taste? He spits it out like a bad seed.

The old truck still runs and drives. That's another plus, and it turned out Walker did have one watermelon left in his back seat.

"That's a good one," he tells us as he thumps on the side. "A good watermelon is like the spirit of God. It's got to be alive. When you thump on it, it's got to come back at you like THOOM."

He took it to one of his spots near NE 18^th and Lottie and, within minutes, he had it sold.

"I'll give it to you for $10," he told the woman who pulled up.

What had been a rough few days was suddenly 'sweet as a cup of sugar'.

"Man, look at that!" he exclaimed. "Ain't God good!"

There are challenges ahead to getting back in business, but if there's anyone out there who doesn't think a man with Russell Walker's outlook can turn something sour into something extra sweet then stand back.

Russell shouts out, "I am gonna come back and serve 'sweet as a cup of sugar watermelons' till the day God calls me home!"

He carries a belly full of optimism bearing fruit from the back of a truck.

The driver who rear-ended his trailer and pickup didn't have insurance or a driver's license.

Walker is looking into fixing up his trailer and finding a new bed for his pickup truck.

"There's joy that comes in the morning!"

If you want to keep up with his progress, he has a popular Facebook page. A GoFundMe page has also been set up to help him with repairs.

Finally, if you're interested in contacting Russell personally, his phone number is 405 239-8022.