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The Homeless Man Who Helped Manchester Attack Victims Will Soon Have A Home

Andrea González-Ramírez
Last Updated June 13, 2017, 5:32 PM
Update: The formerly homeless man who helped victims during the May terrorist attack in Manchester, Stephen Jones, will soon have a place to live. U.K. businessman David Sullivan and his son, David Sullivan Jr., vowed to find Jones a home by the end of the week. David Jr. tweeted that they're paying for Jones to stay in a hotel in the meantime.
A crowdfunding page set up for Jones has raised more than £45,000 ($57,000).
This story was originally published on May 23, 2017.
The actions of a homeless man during the tragic Manchester attack are a lesson in compassion for all of us.
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The man — only identified by British broadcaster ITV News as "Steve" — was sleeping near Manchester Arena on Monday night when the blast occurred at an Ariana Grande concert. As chaos descended on the venue and victims tried to run away from the arena, Steve began helping those who were hurt — from pulling nails out of the victims' bodies to holding them while waiting for emergency responders to reach the scene. At least 22 people died and 59 were injured during Monday's bombing, making it the most fatal terrorist attack in the U.K. since 2005.
"Just because I'm homeless, it doesn't mean I haven't got a heart and I'm not human still," Steve told ITV News in an interview published Tuesday morning that has since gone viral. "It's just instinct to go and help if someone needed your help, and it was children, it was a lot of children with a lot of blood on them screaming and crying. We were having to pull nails out of their arms and a couple out of this little girl's face."
He added, "It had to be done, you had to help. If I didn't help, I wouldn't be able to live with myself for walking away and leaving kids like that."
The interview spread like wildfire online, with many people calling Steve a hero and praising him for his selflessness and kindness in the panicked moments following the attack.
Some social media users offered to help Steve with things like a place to sleep, food, and clothing. Others went as far as setting up crowdfunding efforts to help him financially.
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After the horrific attack took place, there was an outpouring of help for the victims in the city of Manchester, with many citizens showing compassion to complete strangers.
In the sad aftermath of the tragedy, acts like Steve's kindness is exactly what's needed.

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