Cash pours in for homeless hero from Melbourne
November 12, 2018
Donations poured in Monday for a homeless man who used a shopping trolley to fend off a knife-wielding attacker as he stabbed at police in Melbourne last week.
An online campaign set up to help Michael Rogers after video of his valiant effort went viral surged past AU$100,000 ($72,000, €64,000) on Monday, more than double the target of AU$45,000.
As of early Monday morning, AU$104,790 had been contributed to the fund by more than 3,700 grateful citizens.
Rogers, nicknamed "Trolley Man" on social media, repeatedly tried to fend off the attacker, Hassan Khalif Shire Ali, as he wielded his knife against two policemen, who tried to subdue him.
"I have seen the trolley to the side, so I've picked it up and I ran and threw the trolley straight at him. Got him but didn't get him down," Rogers told Channel Seven.
"And I did that motion about — quite a number of times, but it just wasn't getting him down," he said.
'He deserves it'
The viral video shows Rogers trying to halt the attack without being deterred by a burning vehicle containing gas cylinders set alight by the assailant just meters away.
The fundraising campaign was launched on GoFundMe by Donna Stolzenberg, the founder of registered charity Melbourne Homeless Collective.
"As a person he just deserves it," she said.
Stolzenberg said her organization would also help Rogers in finding housing and organize trauma support for him to deal with Friday's events.
ap/amp (AFP, Reuters)