Justice

Homeless Man Helps Manchester Victims, People Want to Help Him Now

May 23rd 2017

"When I was a boy and I would see scary things in the news, my mother would say to me, 'Look for the helpers. You will always find people who are helping.'"

That's a quote from Fred Rogers that is making the rounds on Twitter in light of the Manchester attack on Monday that has left 22 people dead and 59 injured.

And the helpers are coming out in droves. People in Manchester and the surrounding areas were tweeting #RoomForManchester to let anyone seeking shelter know they had a room available.

In particular, there's one local man who's emerging as a hero.

A man named Steve told ITV News he immediately jumped into action to help victims after the blast. "We had to pull nails out of children's faces," he said. In addition to his fearlessness and kindness, what struck people about Steve's story is that he's homeless.

He was sleeping near the arena when the attack occurred. "Just because I'm homeless doesn't mean that I haven't got a heart and I'm not a human still," he told the news outlet. "They needed the help, I'd like to think that someone would come and help me if I needed the help."

And that's what the community is now doing for him.

One U.K.-based interior designer tweeted:

Others chimed in:

A crowdfunding page for Steve was quickly established.

"Steve, a young man living on the streets of Manchester selflessly ran towards the sounds of terror last night to help people wounded in the horrific attack at Manchester Arena," the page reads. "He said in an interview that he would like to think that people would help him if he needed it... so let's do just that!"

A woman named Paula Robinson is also being called a hero.

The 48-year-old grandmother rescued "more than 50 young children who were stranded without their parents after the explosion," Rolling Stone reports. She put herself in danger, "rounding up as many kids as she could and heading to a nearby hotel" after the explosion and amidst the screams. She quickly became identified as a point of contact.

"I did nothing that nobody else would do," she told Rolling Stone. "I thought of my own kids and I just know what I would have wanted. I would have wanted them to be looked after and taken away from the area if I couldn't have done it."

Manchester taxi drivers also stepped up to help.

Drivers offered free rides to connect people with their families and bring them to safety.

The BBC reported on one particular driver, a Sikh man named AJ Singh (above). "I've had people who needed to find loved ones. I've dropped them off to the hospital. They've not had any money, they've been stranded," he told Channel 4 News. Even Liverpool drivers, about 34 miles away, stepped in.

"The audience was a very young audience, and there were a lot of people there without their parents [...] It was at that point that I made the decision that money isn't everything in life and we're part of Manchester and we need to do our part to make sure these people get home safe and sound," driver Sam Arshad told BBC.

The Sikh community is also reaching out in other ways.

On Tuesday, restaurateur Harjinder S. Kukreja tweeted photos of Sikhs of the Manchester community and beyond passing out free water and food, while also "marching in solidarity":

If you'd like to help, TIME reports there are two charities you can donate to to directly benefit the victims of the bombing. The Manchester Evening News set up a crowdfunding page to support the victims' families. You can also donate to Muslims for Manchester.

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