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Respected Fitness Trainer Works To Make Students Proud After Suffering Stroke

LONG BEACH (CBSLA.com) — A fitness trainer in South Bay, known as "G.I. Joe" Charles, has spent the last 15 years of his life motivating people to work out and get in shape.

"If you're a local, you know him," one student said. "You say 'hello', and he says 'hello' back."

Now, after the motivator suffered a recent stroke, the same students whose lives he helped improve are now using his own words to encourage him.

"It means a lot to me," Charles said from his hospital bed. "They made me proud of them. So I want to thank them."

Charles says he wants to return the favor by making his students as proud of him as he has been of them.

While Charles continues his speech and physical therapy in Long Beach, a number of his students are raising money for him and his family to aid in his recovery.

If you'd like to help out, visit Charles' Go Fund Me page here.

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