SOMETIMES a chance encounter can lead to good things, as when young entrepreneur Karun Chhokar happened to talk to a homeless man near Liverpool Street station.
Maxwell Emmanuel, 56, originally from Guyana, was a bike mechanic. But after a diagnosis of cancer, and then a course of chemotherapy and the removal of his bladder, he lost his job.
The cancer treatment worked but, unable to pay the rent, Emmanuel decided he had no choice but to doss down on the streets.
Chhokar’s brother, Saran, needed a brake replaced on his bicycle, which Emmanuel immediately took care of, using Cyclehoop’s nearby deluxe repair station, which provides cyclists the facilities to make repairs on the spot, at no charge.
A passing delivery cyclist asked Emmanuel to fix a puncture. Soon he had fitted a new brake and repaired the puncture, earning £15.
Since Chhokar shared the incident on social media, people have gone to Emmanuel at the repair station to offer him a donation for his work.
Chhokar wants to find Emmanuel permanent accommodation and regular work.
Hamish Scott 111217
* Karun Choker who has set up a charity, the CC Foundation, is holding a food/clothes donation point in the High Street, Brentwood, Essex CM14, on Saturday 16 Dec 2017.
* Backstory: East End shut-out?; Cycopathic? No bike path; Why women get off the bike; Hackney promises 20mph limit by 2015; Hackney safe junction scheme opens and Cycling tsar talks the safety talk
* Lead picture supplied by Cyclehoop. Other is © David. Altheer [at] gmail.com and for sale for reproduction. Bigger format versions usually available.
* Emboldened underscored words in most cases indicate a hyperlink, a reader service rare among websites. If a link does not work, it is probably because the site to which is trying to link has a fault or has closed.