> Subject: A true story of a good samatarian - donations cross £300,000 - > dailymail.co.uk > > >> >> http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2943321/From-bullied-childhood-national-spotlight-interview-disabled-mugging-victim-Alan-Barnes-fairy-godmother-restore-faith-humanity.html >> > > From bullied childhood to national spotlight: An interview with disabled > mugging victim Alan Barnes and his 'fairy godmother' which will restore your > faith in humanity > By JANE FRYER FOR THE DAILY MAIL > > > 1.7k > shares > 183 > View comments > Until this week, Alan Barnes and Katie Cutler had never met, never heard of > each other and, on the face of it, had absolutely nothing in common. > Alan is a tiny, toy-like man, weighing 6st and standing at just 4ft 6in tall. > He has terrible eyesight, loves maths, walking, going to church, dancing, > young people, Radio 4 and making friends and listening to their problems. > +9 > Alan Barnes (right), pictured with his sister Sheila as a child - he was told > he wouldn't live past the age of nine > +9 > Alan as a child - he was bullied and called names like 'Chicken head' and > 'Moon Man' > +9 > Charity Fundraiser Katie Cutler raised more than £300,000 for Alan Barnes who > broke his collar bone after being mugged outside his house > Vulnerable pensioner Alan Barnes was victim of cowardly attack > > His late mother Winnie, who contracted German measles when she was pregnant, > was told he wouldn't live past the age of nine. Alan is now 67 and going > strong. > Katie, meanwhile, is a 21-year-old mum. She has 15 GCSEs, a set of very > lustrous hair extensions, runs her own beauty salon and dreams of being a > manicurist to the stars. > Over the past week she has been called 'the Angel of the North', 'Alan's > fairy godmother' and an online campaign is calling for her to be awarded an > OBE. > Because Katie also has an extraordinarily big heart — even if that's not > quite how she's put it herself. > RELATED ARTICLES > Previous > 1 > Next > > Disabled pensioner Alan Barnes STOPS online fund raising any... > > An 'absolutely magic' hug and tears of joy: Mugged 4ft 6in... > SHARE THIS ARTICLE > Share > 'I'm quite a sensitive person. I always have been,' she says quietly. 'I > can't watch the news very often because afterwards I can't stop thinking > about it and it gets me so upset. It sounds silly but I sort of feel people's > pain. I could talk to a complete stranger and get a bit choked.' > So last Thursday, when she read a local news story about a physically > disabled pensioner being mugged, hurled to the ground, left with a broken > collar bone and too afraid to return to his council flat, just 20 minutes > from her home in Gateshead, Tyne and Wear, she took action immediately — > setting up an online donation page in his name. > 'I just thought, if I can get £500 to pay for new carpets and curtains in his > new place, it'd be nice. Just a bit to show him that people cared.' > +9 > He didn't go to school, climb trees or play sport ('I just wasn't really > interested') but stayed at home with Bobby the family budgie, playing with > bricks and dominoes and Ludo > +9 > As a baby he did not flourish and underwent a pioneering cataract operation > to restore some sight to his right eye when he was just one > As anyone who has opened a newspaper, watched television or listened to the > radio in the past week will know, that's when things went a little crazy. > Because Katie's ambitious £500 target was achieved in less than an hour. > By last Saturday, she'd raised more than £50,000. By Sunday more than 21,000 > people from all around the world had donated £281,122. It wasn't just money. > One kind person promised a kitchen for Alan's new home. Others offered a > bathroom and a conservatory. > Removal companies, cleaning companies and security firms all offered services > free of charge. Alan's also been inundated with offers of free groceries, > free meals and free drinks. > By Wednesday morning, with the fund tipping £330,145 and offers of gifts and > services coming out of their ears, Katie, Alan and his astonished family > thanked everyone very much indeed, then asked them to stop giving and closed > the fund. > 'It's all been a bit crazy,' adds Katie, clearly rather shaken by the whole > turn of events. > 'I thought this sort of thing only happened to other people — to famous > people, or when there'd been a disaster,' adds Alan, 'It's very kind, but > it's more than enough. So I'd like to pass some of it on to other people who > might need it more.' > Today, Alan (in a hand-knitted tank top and right arm still in a sling) and > Katie are sitting on her brown corduroy sofa in the cottage in Gateshead she > shares with her boyfriend John, 28, and their daughter Gracie, nearly three. > They have been holding hands since Alan arrived. > 'People say she's my fairy godmother. I don't know what she is, but she's > absolutely magic,' he says, beaming. 'It's as if all the good has somehow > cancelled out the bad.' > Katie describes her shock at donations reaching £220,000 > > +9 > Alan, pictured in 1967, can't read books, can barely make out newspaper > headlines and struggles with TV > And it was bad. A vulnerable man attacked outside his own brightly lit front > door at six o'clock in the evening as he put the bins out. > His assailant demanded money, rifled through Alan's empty pockets and then > pushed him to the ground, smashing his collarbone and damaging his knees. > 'He wasn't massive, but I suppose I'm not very big! I shouted for help and he > ran away.' It was over in seconds but, for Alan, everything had changed. > 'I knew instantly I wouldn't ever be coming back. I was too afraid. I'm a > person who makes decisions quickly and sticks to them.' > For a small man, Alan has a steely look about him — perhaps because he has > overcome so many obstacles in life. Born the eldest of six children to a > modest family in Gateshead, he has lived in the town all his life. > As a baby he did not flourish and underwent a pioneering cataract operation > to restore some sight to his right eye when he was just one. > 'It helped. Today I can tell colours, but not much more.' > He didn't go to school, climb trees or play sport ('I just wasn't really > interested') but stayed at home with Bobby the family budgie, playing with > bricks and dominoes and Ludo. > 'The doctors said, 'keep him busy' and I was always very good at keeping > busy,' he says cheerily. 'I just got on with things. I had all my family. I > didn't feel different.' From the age of seven he was home-schooled two > mornings a week — colouring in and maths, which he loved. > His passions include the Methodist Church, doing mental arithmetic, walking > for miles every day (in winter in a bobble hat, in summer with a parasol to > protect his delicate scalp from sunburn) and, despite his poor sight, > needlecraft. > In 1981 he made a Union Jack rug for Prince Charles and his young bride Diana. > 'I got a picture out of the library and then measured it all out in graph > paper,' he explains. 'It took 45,000 pieces of wool and took months, but it > was worth it because they sent me a lovely thank you letter.' > +9 > Alan, pictured in 1968 celebrating his 21st birthday party with a cake that > he made himself > Sadly, perhaps bullying was inevitable. > 'Of course you get called names like 'Chicken head' and 'Moon Man'. It > bothered my brother and sisters, but it didn't bother me.' > Alan's approach was to befriend the bullies, 'They don't like being ignored — > that's what keeps them going. I find once they get to know you, it dies off.' > As he talks, Katie clasps his teeny hand tight and gives him the occasional > hug. She is no ordinary 21-year-old. She has a work ethic to rival Bill Gates > (she's had jobs since she was 12 and rented her own home since she was 17). > She is a devoted mother, rarely goes out in the evening, cares deeply about > other people and wants to make a success of her beauty business (people > already travel far and wide for her nail art), pass her driving test and > provide a good home for Gracie. > Alan has only known her a few days, but already adores her. > 'I don't usually take to people so quickly, but when I met her she gave me an > enormous hug and it was so natural — as if I'd known her all my life,' he > says. > 'My mam was never very cuddly. We were looked after, but not cuddled. And > I've never cuddled other ladies because they usually belong to other people.' > Today his life is simple — or at least it was before the madness of the last > week. He gets up when it's light and lives almost entirely on full-fat milk > (two pints a day) and endless Kit Kats. > 'I've tried different chocolates, but you get biscuit as well in a Kit Kat. > You can actually live without cooking, because I have for six years!' > He can't read books, can barely make out newspaper headlines and struggles > with television. > Mostly, he listens to Radio 4 — the news ('I was very interested in the > Scottish Referendum, it went the right way'), history programmes, Desert > Island Discs and occasionally the Archers, 'though it's very slow — you only > get ten minutes at a time'. > In 1998 he was knocked down by a car. 'I had a broken knee and two broken > arms. I remember thinking: 'Ah well, I've got one good leg!' ' > His life has been solitary. No girlfriend, no wife, no children. > 'My philosophy has always been that if you haven't got a job, don't produce > children.' > And what about girls? > 'The thing is, the girl makes the choice. So if she doesn't choose you, it > doesn't happen. I just had to work with what I've got. > 'But I'm not sad. It's just how life is. I know a lot of people. I've got a > lot of friends. I've had a happy life. I'm content with what I've got.' > +9 > Alan, pictured with his father Frank Barnes in 1949 - born the eldest of six > children to a modest family in Gateshead, he has lived in the town all his > life > +9 > Over the past week Katie Cutler has been called 'the Angel of the North', > 'Alan's fairy godmother' and an online campaign is calling for her to be > awarded an OBE > Does he ever feel sorry for himself or get fed up? 'You can't dwell, can you? > There's no point. I just take life as whatever comes. I seem to roll along > very nicely. Always have.' > If Katie is a bit shell-shocked by the attention, Alan is loving it. > 'It's great fun. And I've been all over the place — it's years since I've > been out in a car — so it's very exciting.' > This from a man who has never had a passport and whose last holiday was a few > days away with his church in the early Nineties. > And the money — he's now £330,145 richer, plus all those promised home > improvements, — what on earth is he going to do with it all? > 'I really don't know. I haven't had time to think. I need to find somewhere > to live. But I'd like to help others. Help some of the young people on my > estate — some of their backgrounds are hard. Do something for the church.' > Is there anywhere he'd like to go — somewhere wildly exotic? > 'Barbados! They've got a college there established in the 17th century — > Bridgetown. I'd like to go and visit it.' Once he's got a passport, obviously. > And Katie — how is she coping with the limelight? > 'It's hard. I've had a lifetime of compliments in the space of five days — > people are so kind. I'm not used to it. It's quite embarrassing. I'm not an > angel, I'm just normal.' > And the campaign for Katie Cutler OBE? 'I didn't know what one was, to be > honest. But I'd like to meet the Queen. I'd rather that than an OBE, whatever > it is.' > As always, there are detractors who claim the public outpouring is > ridiculous, that better causes exist, that the money will be frittered or > abused. Let's be clear here. Katie has no wish to benefit from any of this. > She has refused to accept a thank you fund set up by well-wishers in her > name, or any of the myriad gifts and services — other than a free haircut > which she's agreed with the giver to pass on to her granny. > She genuinely, and touchingly, just wants to help other people. > 'I'm getting thousands of emails and messages a day now — people asking me to > help with their troubles. It's really hard because you can't help everyone.' > But her heart almost broke when she learnt of Kacie — a two-year-old local > girl with the severest form of spinal muscular atrophy, who has already > surpassed her life expectancy and needed £5,000 towards a specialist > wheelchair. > 'She's such a happy little girl. It's so sad. I just thought while everyone's > giving us all this attention we could maybe pass it on and help someone else.' > So she and Alan and Alan's family agreed to divert well-wishers to a second > online funding page set up by Katie, this time in Kacie's name. And as if by > magic, in less than a day, she had raised £5,897. > Now they're such firm friends, Katie and Alan plan to combine forces to help > others. > They are not yet sure quite how. But perhaps with an 'Alan Barnes Foundation' > sharing some of the astonishing generosity shown to Alan with others. As he > puts it: 'Good deeds breed good deeds.' > So ignore the detractors. This is a story about luck — bad and good — > kindness, compassion and an extraordinary display of humanity from all around > the world that has given a courageous man hope. > And if Alan's attacker is ever found, what would he say to him? Could he > forgive him? > 'My family wouldn't. They said if they got him, well . . . but violence > doesn't solve anything, does it?' > So would he? 'Of course! When the Pope [John Paul II] got shot, he forgave > the man who shot him, didn't he? So I'd do the same. But I'd also tell him it > was a stupid thing to do.' > > Share or comment on this article > > >
