Russian Raises 18k GBP For Good Samaritan Teen

Story ByAnastasia Smirnova, Sub EditorJoseph Golder,AgencyCentral European News 

This teenage boy who helped out a popular blogger by paying for her ticket on a bus was shocked to find out the social media star then raised 18,000 GBP in donations for him and his mum who are struggling financially.

The heartwarming story began when fashion blogger and single mother Natalya Mishina was visiting her parents in the town of Kamen-na-Obi, located in southern Russia’s Altai region.

Picture Credit: CEN

She was on a bus in the town when her three-year-old son began to cry and she was struggling to pay for her ticket. When she got her hands free and went to buy the ticket she found out a 13-year-old onlooker had already purchased it for her.

Mishina, who boats an army of over 600,000 online followers, tried to find out more about the good Samaritan but only discovered his name was Ivan and he attended a local school.

The boy reportedly said his mother had been struggling since his father died but then got off the bus.

Picture Credit: CEN/@beautiful.mom

Mishina decided to find out more about the boy and she contacted his school. She then found out his address and met his mother Tatiana, who revealed they were struggling financially.

The mother said they were having to pay for repairs on their house and blogger Mishina then decided to try to raise funds, asking her followers to send donations directly to the family.

Local media report over 1.5 million RUB (18,696 GBP) was raised in under a day, with mother and son blown away by the kindness. Ivan reportedly told his mum “what did I do? I only bought a ticket for a young woman and her kid”.

Picture Credit: CEN/@beautiful.mom

The family reportedly plan to spend the money on the home repairs and paying for Ivan to attend an art school. The mother is reportedly considering using the money to also buy a flat in a big city for her son.

Netizen ‘yakovleva.zoya’ said: “This is so cool. It has even made me shed a tear. Happiness is indeed in the details. Thank you for making this world more beautiful.“

Another ‘ksyu_alex_mary’ added: “Fabulous, kind-hearted story.”

However, some commentator slammed Natalia for staging a PR campaign.

‘mosolova_elena’ commented: “This is 100% PR.”

But ‘elen._.ka’ commented: “What a wonderful story. Natalia, you are the best! It is a shame that not everybody gets it.”

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