TOLEDO, Ohio — The sound of whirring electronic instruments echoed from Rick Mish's basement.
Inside a small tucked-away bathroom, a group of plumbers fed a microfiber video cable down Mish's sewer line, looking for a line blockage that's plagued him for almost 20 years.
"There it is," said one of the plumbers as he grabbed the camera's viewfinder, pointing to an inches-long break in the pipeline.
The blockage has been found and Mish's sewage problems were finally coming to a close.
"I can't believe it, I can't believe someone is here," said Mish.
It was a long road to reaching that resolution.
Since 2004, Mish has been dealing with problematic pipes. He claimed city construction crews jostled the clay piping of his sewage line and in the years since, any time he flushes toilet paper, the line clogs, filling his basement with sewage.
So for 10 years, he paid people to snake the line.
"I have $8,000, I can show you, in receipts," Mish told WTOL 11.
He eventually lost so much money paying for fixes, he started throwing his toilet paper into a separate trash can to avoid another overflow.
"We just quit putting paper down the line and we live with it," said Mish.
In late October, Mish had enough and reached out to WTOL 11 about running a story about his struggles.
Only days after the story aired, the station was contacted by the owners of T&J Rooter service who said they watched Mish's story and wanted to help him out, for free.
"Jaime [the co-owner of T&J Rooter] was telling me this will be a completely no-cost job?" Asked WTOL 11.
"Yep, pro bono," said Brian Johnson, one of the supervisors.
"And why do you guys do pro bono jobs like that?" Asked WTOL 11.
"Oh, just to help out the community," Johnson responded.
The team scoured the pipes, located the problem and planned their next steps, all without Rick needing to spend a dime.
"[It's] shocking that somebody would go to that length," said Mish.
WTOL 11 spoke to one of the owners of T&J Rooter and he said they should have Mish's line fixed within the next two weeks, finally putting to rest his 20-year nightmare.
Mish said he can't wait to no longer have to think twice before flushing.
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