Now Mr Barnes is too scared to move back home and is living in with his sister locally. Alan’s plight was read by a young beautician Katie Cutler in a local newspaper and in the Mirror online; she then immediately felt heartache for Alan – despite never having met the man before – and went about trying to raise £500 ($800) to give him something nice to buy or put the cost towards buying a new home somewhere safer.
Katie set up an online funding campaign at Go Fund Me and was surprised at response it received within just hours of the social media plea being launched online. So much money was raised in the first 24 hours, the campaign to help Alan find a new home generated funds well past the £50,000 ($80,000) mark before the first day was over.
Alan’s appearance is at first glance a little odd; he was born with a number of defects which has left him partially blind and stunted his growth (he is well under five feet tall). His mother had contracted German Measles during pregnancy and this contributed significantly towards his disability.
Alan is said to be a skilled mathematician who can calculate, within a second, the number of days anyone has been alive just by being told their date of birth.
When Alan was attacked, he was knocked to the ground and his frail frame meant his shoulder blade snapped very easily. Alan is now too frightened to return home and has been left extremely distressed. Following reports of the attack, which police described as “disgraceful”, Ms Cutler said “Not just people in the North East [of England], but we’ve had people donating from Canada, Holland, down south, the USA, [and] New Zealand. This person that hurt Alan, is just a minority.”
Katie appeared on BBC News 24 on Saturday and the fund has now escalated to £130,000 ($200,000) which would be enough to help Alan buy a new one-bedroom apartment in the North East of England. One donor, Milton Grimshaw said, “Alan deserves every penny, he is such a humble chap, whoever attacked him should realise that good is greater than evil.”
In an interview with the Mail Online, Alan himself said: “It is just amazing, a simple thank you doesn’t cover it. I don’t know what I will do with the money yet, I think that is a question for a long time down the road. I will have to have a big think about it as it’s such a huge figure. I can tell you one thing, it won’t be wasted, I am always very careful with money and won’t be spending it on flashy holidays, I just want to feel safe again.”
He added that there “wouldn’t be enough words” for him to thank Katie, and he had been “blown away” by her kindness.
There is little doubt that the power of good has united together in such a wave over one small representation of evil, with the donor count now well past 10,000 people from all over the world. The fund also highlights again how the power of social media marketing can help someone in such a distressed state.
