MMS student’s kindness to a homeless man is a hit on social media
07 Oct 2014
A Manchester Medical School student has highlighted the plight of homeless people on Facebook following his kindness towards a rough sleeper
Ben Holmes took a photo of himself with the homeless man after buying him food and listening to his story. He then shared the photo on Facebook to encourage other people to think differently and help out, as he had done.
The third year medical student, whose post has gone viral, learned the man had nowhere to go after he lost his job and his girlfriend, the Huddersfield Daily Examiner and Mirror Online reports.
Ben said: “He had a dog, and I like dogs so I knelt down to stroke it and he didn’t even look up. He was just staring at the floor. I spoke to him and asked if he was OK and wanted a sandwich and he said yes, if it wasn’t too much trouble but not to go out of my way for him, so I bought us a sandwich each and some cookies for the dog.”
The man did not want his face or real name to appear in the photo, so referred to himself as Bill and his dog as Tia.
Ben, who met the man in Preston, where he is based for his clinical years, explained: “I sat down and asked him to talk to me about himself and he told me the story of how he got there.
“I asked him what it was like to be on the streets and he said it wasn’t being there, it was what people thought of him that was hard.
“He said there were places he could stay but he couldn’t take Tia. He’s had her for 12 years so he’s not going to leave her.
“I would never have thought I could be homeless, but he said a few months ago he was just like anybody else with a mortgage, a job and a girlfriend and then he had a bit of bad luck and lost it all. You never realise until you talk to people what they are going through.”
Ben’s post has been shared more than 9,000 times on Facebook. He said he was surprised and pleased by the response.
Ben added: “You might walk past a homeless person and not think twice about it, but they are real people, just like us.”
Food bank collection point in Stopford Building
Remember that Manchester Medical School supports its local food bank as part of the its social responsibility efforts and staff can donate to the food bank by leaving items in the special bag in the MMS staff kitchen in the Stopford Building.
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