Uncle Bob
If you’re familiar with the career of Lil Wayne, you’ve probably heard about an officer who saved his life as a kid in New Orleans. NOLA reports that Robert Hoobler, also known as Uncle Bob, passed away on Friday (July 22) at his Old Jefferson home.
He suffered from health problems related to a car accident and diabetes for years casuing both of his legs being amputated, according to Hoobler’s grandson Daniel Nelson. David Lapene, a former police officer in New Orleans, called Lil Wayne’s description of what happened “one of the best reflections of who Hoobler was as a person.”
What Happened?
When Lil Wayne was 12 years old, it was believed he accidentally shot himself, but it was actually a suicide attempt. As punishment for skipping school, his mother banned him from rapping, upsetting the future rap legend.
“I was just looking [in the mirror] like, ‘You know what?’ Start thinking I had to get myself mad and I noticed that I didn’t have to — that’s what scared me,” Wayne told ex NFL player Emmanual Acho in a 2021 interview. “How I knew I had mental health problems was I pulled the trigger.”
The police officers searched his bloody body for drugs and weapons after arriving at the scene, Wayne remembered. Despite being off-duty at the time, Hoobler rushed Weezy to the emergency room.
“[He] picked me up and just kept telling me some shit like, ‘You not gonna die on me,’” he said. “And so he got me to the hospital … He made sure I was good.”
Thanking Uncle Bob
During the 2018 BET Hip Hop Awards, Lil Wayne thanked Hoobler while accepting the I Am Hip Hop award. “There’s a man in New Orleans,” Wayne said. “His name is Uncle Bob. Came into an apartment one day, he bust in the door, guns drawn. He saw nobody. He saw legs on the floor. It was my legs. He saw blood everywhere. A bunch of police hopped over me, he refused to do so.”
“I never knew — I talked to him the other day — I never knew EMS was on the scene. He said EMS tried twice and they told him there’s nothing. He refused to let that die. Forget an ambulance, he brought me to the hospital himself. He refused to wait, kicked in the doors and said, ‘Do whatever you gotta do to make sure this child make it.’” Wayne continued, “Not only that, that day Uncle Bob was a homicide detective, he was off on detail, he just heard the call and came. Not only did he refuse to sit … he refused to leave. He stayed and made sure I made it.”
No public comments were made by Lil Wayne regarding Hoobler’s death yet. It is with great sadness that HipHopToday sends its condolences to Wayne and Hoobler’s family and friends.
