No, it's not. If your idea of "coming through" for someone is to help them live barely above the poverty line, but only if you bust your a-- working and never get sick or hurt, then I don't really know what to tell you. I read this article and wonder, no one in the community could help this guy get a better job to support his 7 children than driving a cab? No one could help him get a loan to start a business that maybe could have grown to employ others, being run by such a hard worker?  Who knows, maybe he had other career opportunities but chose not to pursue them, which obviously he's free to do.
And where did I say the government needed to step in and run this guy's life? I didn't. It's unfortunate that all of this man's hard work couldn't provide a higher standard of living for his family. I don't think the government should have given him handouts, but a more effective "hand up" (not necessarily from government) would have been good.