A Co Tyrone man has spoken of his drive to help those in need this Christmas after he came to the aid of a young German man sleeping rough on the streets in Omagh.
Caolan Collins from the town spotted a young man who hadn’t eaten for three days and was sleeping near Omagh bus depot last weekend.
Caolan helped to feed the young man and paid for a room in a local hotel for two nights due to the freezing temperatures.
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Since helping the man get back on his feet, Caolan has now raised more than £1,500 to help people in need this Christmas with heating oil, electricity and even Christmas decorations.
“I saw a picture of the guy sleeping under the bridge by the bus depot and I just had to go and see him,” Caolan said.
“He said he hadn’t eaten anything in three days, so we bought him something to eat and spoke to him for 20 minutes or so.
“He has family living in Omagh but because of a family argument he had nowhere to stay. He wasn’t drinking or on drugs or anything like that, I knew after a few minutes he was a good soul.
“He was due to have a job interview on Monday and was planning to stay there until then, but I just couldn’t have that so tried to get him a hotel.
“I paid for him to stay for two nights and he had an appointment on the Saturday so I picked him up and brought him to that and gave him some money.
“He was hesitant to come with me but I managed to convince him, I wouldn’t have been able to sleep at night if I hadn’t done something.”
Caolan has been keeping in contact with the young man and has been helping him look for work locally, but now says he has plans to return to Germany.
Caolan initially set up a fundraiser to help with any homelessness in the Omagh area, but upon finding it was not a major problem in the area he wanted to help those who were struggling to pay their bills.
He added that he had first hand experience of how difficult things can be after he was left with no money to heat his home or buy food when living in the US.
“I lived in Philadelphia for three years and was working in construction, there were times when it was so cold there was no work for us.
“I was too proud to ring home and we had no food in the house so I didn’t eat for three days.
“Only for one person I knew who handed me money when I was really in need I don’t know what I’d have done.
“Since then I always thought that if I was ever in a position to help someone then I would have to help them.
“I never thought it would be something I would be at, but the response I have got from the local community has been fantastic.”
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