<\/p>\n
After hosting a private event at his apartment, Ben Pohl and his friends decided to head to a bar<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
On the walk over, the night took an unexpected turn when one of the girls, Holly, broke a heel<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n
Not ready to call it quits, and only a few blocks from home, Pohl offered to fix it \u2014 and the moment quickly went viral<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n
After hosting a private event at his apartment, Ben Pohl and his friends decided to keep the night going. A few attendees headed to another bar, and Pohl, 32, joined in. But on the walk over, the night took an unexpected turn when one of the girls in his group, Holly, broke a heel.<\/p>\n
Not ready to call it quits \u2014 and only a few blocks from home \u2014 Pohl offered a quick solution: they\u2019d swing by his place so he could fix it. He tells PEOPLE he\u2019s always been the handy friend, the one people call when something needs to be built, hung or fixed. So helping out felt natural.<\/p>\n
\u201cI called a taxi, we all piled in, and once we got to my apartment, I got to work,\u201d he recalls to PEOPLE exclusively. \u201cThe nails holding the heel were destroyed, so I used some past experience and a screw to patch it back together.\u201d<\/p>\n
The impromptu repair worked like a charm. Afterward, the group bar-hopped, grabbed tacos and Holly danced the night away \u2014 the fix held perfectly. Eventually, the friends parted ways, thinking the night\u2019s adventure was over.<\/p>\n
The next morning, however, Pohl woke up to texts from friends asking if it was him in a video. Someone in the group had captured the moment, and later Holly posted it to TikTok \u2014 where it quickly went viral, amassing over five million views.<\/p>\n
\u201cI had no idea it was even posted \u2014 let alone going viral,\u201d he says. \u201cWatching it climb to five million views was surreal, all from a random Friday night shoe repair. I couldn\u2019t stop laughing \u2014 the comments were gold. There was such a fun, positive energy around it, and I\u2019ll admit, I was flattered by a lot of them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy favorites were people calling it a \u20182025 Cinderella story,\u2019 and then DeWalt showing up in the comments,\u201d he adds. \u201cI didn\u2019t have my favorite tool brand flirting with me online on my bingo card.\u201d<\/p>\n
Since then, Pohl has received countless DMs from people with closets full of broken heels needing help. \u201cMy friends think it\u2019s hilarious and weirdly fitting. My family\u2019s been laughing too. Everyone\u2019s now debating whether I should hang up my day job and become a full-time cobbler content creator.\u201d<\/p>\n
Among friends, Pohl is now officially known as \u201cThe Cobbler.\u201d He clarifies he\u2019s not a cobbler by trade \u2014 just a \u201cbroke college kid who didn\u2019t want to throw out good shoes.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s wild how something so small, a broken heel, can connect millions of people online,\u201d he adds. \u201cIt\u2019s a fun reminder that the internet still loves a good, wholesome story.\u201d<\/p>\n
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