Homeless man given $25k for kind deed

Nicole with her savior Mark. Photo / Facebook via Nicole Sedgebeer

A simple act of kindness has resulted in a homeless man in Britain becoming $25,000 richer.

In a Facebook post, Nicole Sedgebeer said she missed the last train home to Milton Keynes on March 3, and was faced with the prospect of spending the night alone on the streets of London.

With her cellphone out of battery, the 21-year-old was stranded in an unfamiliar area, locked out of Euston station and on the verge of tears.

It was then that her unlikely savior appeared. A homeless man, known only as Mark, showed her to a late night café, saying it was too dangerous to be out alone.

The pair shared a coffee and a chat, before Mark left to get his sleeping bag, saying he would be back at 5am to walk her to the train station.

The next morning, true to his word, he showed up.

"Not only did he turn up, but he had to get a bus to come get me," she wrote on Facebook.

"This man who I probably would [have] avoided eye contact with if he asked for spare change, completely changed such a negative event into the most eye opening event in my life," she wrote. "Mark you are one special man."

As a reward, Sedgebeer began a crowdfunding campaign to help Mark get on his feet. So far, the tally has reached £12,000 (NZD $25,700).

The pair have since been reunited for a British television show, during which Mark, a father-of-three, said he hoped anyone would do the same for those in need.

"I'd hope that someone would do this for my daughter. If they didn't I'd be disappointed in humanity. The fact that I live on the streets doesn't matter, doesn't make me any less of a person."

For Sedgebeer, the incident has changed the way she looks at homeless people.

"I will never look down on a homeless person again," she wrote on the Just Giving page.

"Mark embodies the best of humanity. He went out of his way to help me, a complete stranger, when the reality of his situation is that people walk past him every day without offering him help."

- nzherald.co.nz