A tradie who spontaneously gave a homeless man his work boots while on his daily commute home said he was ‘shocked’ at the fanfare the generous act has received.
Bobby Nelson has been dubbed the ‘hi-vis hero’ after giving the man his work boots simply because he saw he needed them.
Mr Nelson said he often saw the homeless man at his northern Adelaide train station when going to work at night on the Gawler line but on Monday he was coming home and saw him on the train.
‘He came and approached me to say hello,’ Mr Nelson told ABC radio on Wednesday.
‘I noticed he didn’t have shoes on and he had like blisters and cuts and stuff all over his feet,’ Bobby said, which prompted him to donate what he was wearing.
Bobby Nelson was photographed wearing just his socks after he gave away his work boots to a homeless man he chatted to on the train
‘I just asked him what shoe size he was, he told me and they were exactly the same size.’
Facebook user Markus Markus saw the act and posted a photo to a northern suburbs community forum of Bobby wearing just socks.
‘THEIR ARE SOME GREAT PEOPLE STILL IN THIS WORLD,’ Mr Markus wrote.
‘This lad jumped on the train and a homeless person was on the train and started talking to him.
‘This lad was obviously on his way to work and what happened next blew me away.
‘He seen the homeless man with no shoes (I didn’t even notice) he proceeded to ask him he’s shoe size and took his shoes off to give him.’
The post has attracted over 2,600 along with comments expressing admiration for the Good Samaritan.
‘That is the best story I have heard in a long time. X,’ one says.
‘This makes my heart happy,’ reads another.
The photo taken by another Adelaide commuter has sparked an avalanche of praise for the generous act
However, Bobby told ABC radio that he hadn’t sought the acclaim.
‘I am not really one for publicity,’ he said.
‘It’s the kind of thing I have done since I was a kid because my dad has had a heart for the homeless throughout my childhood.
‘My dad fed over 500 homeless people a week in a busy part of Brisbane.
‘My dad and his mate and his mate’s wife have been doing this for over 10 years.
‘I was always taught an act of kindness… you don’t need to tell everyone about it, just live your day.’
He said it was surprising that he had done one good deed and ‘everyone has gone crazy over it’ because it was something he did naturally.
‘I’ve come from a place where I’ve had nothing … and now I’m doing really good in life with a family and kids and stuff,’ he said.
‘I know what it’s like to have nothing so that’s why I just try and give as much as I can.’
Bobby said as well as posting the photo, Mr Markus approached him offering to pay for the sacrifice.
‘He came straight up to me, almost missed his stop and came up to me to try to give me some money,’ Bobby said.
‘I told him to bless someone else with it because I am okay and apparently he paid for someone’s shopping or something, so credit to him.’
As for walking home without boots, Mr Nelson said it was lucky the path had been recently paved.
Source: | This article originally belongs to Dailymail.co.uk