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Cult bus driver is seriously illMeatball Freddy is fighting back tears again – fans are collecting for wheelchairs
400 meatballs. A huge snake. And in the middle of it all, a man who is visibly moved.
Freddy Külpmann (65) from Witten (North Rhine-Westphalia), whom many people now only know as Meatball Freddy, stands in front of the food truck with his walker and fights back tears. The school bus driver became an internet legend last year. Now he urgently needs help.
Tears over the “Frikadelle on Friday” made Freddy Külpmann an internet phenomenon
A report by WDR “Lokalzeit” about the end of the “Frikadellenkönig” food truck made it known everywhere in May 2025. At that time, Freddy, as a regular customer, spoke in front of the camera about saying goodbye to his beloved “Frikadelle on Friday” – tears came to his eyes (see here in the ARD media library). This very emotional moment went viral afterwards.
The school bus driver Freddy “Freddy Meatball” Külpmann urgently needs help.
RTL
The bus driver became a meme and Freddy suddenly became a minor celebrity. “I first looked at the WDR website.” There were 1.2 million clicks back then. Freddy Külpmann told the station at the time: “I thought, wait, are you all stupid?” There have now been many millions more clicks.
Meatball Freddy is asking his community for help and the closed food truck is helping
Now the situation is serious. Freddy Külpmann told his around 7,000 followers on Instagram that he was diagnosed with the neurological disease Hereditary Spastic Paraparesis (HSP): “My legs don't work anymore, I can't drive a bus anymore,” says the 65-year-old in an RTL interview. He can only move around with difficulty using a walker. His big wish is a motorized wheelchair.
The health insurance company covers part of the cost of the scooter. According to him, 5,000 euros are still missing for the model that Freddy would like. So he turned to his community – and they responded immediately.
Once again there are meatballs: all the proceeds go to the sick meatball Freddy.
RTL
Particularly emotional is who made the spontaneous fundraising campaign possible. Uwe and Heike Gambalat, the operators of the long-closed “Frikadellenkönig”, heard of Freddy’s call and took action. Rolls and minced meat were donated by companies, their food truck drove up again and suddenly Witten-Annen (NRW) had exactly what Freddy had missed so much: the legendary meatball on Friday.
Heike and Uwe Gambalat immediately opened the food truck for Frikadellen-Freddy.
RTL
Snack bar operator Uwe Gambalat says to RTL: “We have known Freddy for nine years. He is a really nice guy. When we saw on Facebook that he needed help, we were there straight away.” It is really the last time that the meatballs will be available, says Uwe Gambalat. Everything for Freddy.
Many people didn't miss this. On Friday morning (March 27th) they stood in line to get one of around 400 meatballs. All proceeds went to Freddy.
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The meatballs for Freddy were gone in a flash
Freddy Külpmann (65) is really happy about the rush and donations.
RTL
The action didn't last long. After just over an hour, all the meatballs were sold. In the end, around 2,400 euros were raised in donations. A big step towards Freddy's much-needed wheelchair.
And Freddy is already thinking ahead. If there is still money left over after the purchase, he doesn't want to keep the rest. “Then I'll donate it to the animal shelter. Animals have always been close to my heart,” he says. Then he bites into one of his beloved meatballs with relish.
Sources used: own RTL research, WDR
