CLEVELAND — Corporal Eric Hudson, a supervisor with the Cleveland Clinic Police, has gone viral once again. Hudson has been helping caregivers and our community start their day off right while helping them safely cross East 89th Street near one of the hospital entrances.
After a News 5 viewer shared cell phone video of Hudson in action, our team went to check him out in person. Little did we know, we would be walking into one of the new, hottest block parties hosted by Hudson himself.
Met with hit tunes pumping from his portable speaker, a smooth two-step, and an infectious positive vibe, we saw Hudson directing traffic and the pedestrians while saying, “welcome to the Cleveland Clinic. I’m the DJ that don’t play. I told you rain sleet or snow we gon’ go. Even on the ice, I’m twice as nice.”
Needless to say, videos do not serve Hudson justice.
“I got the heat in the street. All you got to do is move your feet,” said Hudson.
While his love for music and freestyle lives on from his past, Hudson’s mission, while volunteering to cover cross-guard shifts, is to simply pay it forward.
“You’d be surprised with the caregivers, how many of them hug me [and] they break down. They’re crying in my arms. Thank you I needed this. So, that’s what gives me joy. When I come here, I love giving that energy and it reciprocates back to me. I love it.”
Hudson, who grew up in Glenville and proudly calls it home, says showing love is what helped him through dark days on the job. The 49-year-old has served the Cleveland Clinic for 18 years, where he started off as a security officer.
“It weighs on you every day. You come in and you have to put your life on the line and there’s a scrutiny, so it drains you because you don’t feel appreciated. I had to pull myself out of that because there’s a reason for the season” Hudson said.
Now, Hudson says he chooses to live and groove in his purpose, every day.
“This is just me being me,” he said. “I love my community.”
But these bright days are not met without a little dance competition from the community who loves him back.
For more information about the Cleveland Clinic Police Department and job opportunities, email Hudson at hudson2@ccf.org or call 216-346-3287.
