A dad has left people online in stitches after he was tricked into thinking that an old trampoline was actually the figure of an elderly man in need of assistance.
Damien Webster saw the shadowy figure as he left his house one morning and looked down his street, where he could have sworn he saw a man dressed in black leaning against a wall.
The Royal Army worker was convinced the man had a walking stick and was bent over as though he was out of breath, and while he initially thought nothing of it, the figure was still there when he returned outside some time later - so he thought the man was in desperate need of help.
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Kind-hearted Damien, from Sunderland, then ventured down the road to offer his assistance to the man, which is when he realised the figure was actually just an old trampoline that had been leaning against his neighbour's wall.
The man said: “So I came out of the house at 5 am this morning to check if the car was frozen and I saw this bloke leaning on a wall with a walking stick.
“I thought he must be out of breath just came out the door now at 6:40 am and he's still there.
“I shouted 'mate you alright' then got no reply I walked down the road to check on him.
“And it's a smashed trampoline net hanging over the wall.”
Damien was able to see the funny side of his blunder - which took place last week (April 28) - and posted a picture of what he saw on Facebook, where he has already racked up over 10,000 comments and 26,000 shares.
And people couldn't help but poke fun, with some even pulling the classic joke that he "should have gone to Specsavers".
One person jokingly said: “I’m sure he’ll bounce back.”
While another commenter added: “Should have gone to Specsavers.”
And a third shared Damien's views, as they noted: “Haha, actually looks like a man.”
"At least you show you still do care", someone else stated.
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