'Good Samaritan' comes to the rescue in Tullamore

An honest 'Good Samaritan' did his good deed for the day in Tullamore recently.

A regular reader of the Tribune wrote to the paper's Editor this week outlining how the man returned cash to him he had absent-mindedly left at an ATM machine.

The letter reads as follows:

Dear Sir,

On Friday, I went to the ATM at the Credit Union to get some cash. €100. Absent-mindedly, I walked off without taking the cash. I was around the corner on Kilbride St when a guy started shouting after me. I was perplexed.

He said: "This is your money!" I thought he was mistaking me for somebody else. I said "No its not mine..." whereupon he said "You leave it in machine" - his English was not perfect.

It suddenly dawned on me.

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The man was out of breath. I asked him his name. "Yuri" - from Ukraine.

I know some basic Russian, and ventured "Spasiba" to him (most of Eastern Ukraine is ethnic Russian). "Poazhaluysta" was his response.

I literally hugged him for his decency.

Yuri - you are a truly decent man in a world in collapse. I owe you a coffee, and I hope your homeland returns to peace very soon.

Go raibh míle maith agat

Kev Ó Faoláin,

Tullamore

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