international student Canada

Video goes viral after group finds international student sleeping under Toronto bridge

A series of videos on TikTok has gone viral after a group of people found an international student sleeping under a bridge in Toronto. 

The original video, posted by user Chirag Gondi, has amassed over half a million views at the time of publication, with floods of comments commending the group of men for helping the international student in need. 

According to Gondi, the group was driving near Victoria Park in Scarborough when they first saw the man. After discovering that he was South Asian like themselves, the group decided to approach the student. 

"We stopped and he told us he needs to make a call to his home in India," Gondi wrote. "We said 'let's go, we can take you to your home,' and he said he [doesn't] have a home, he is just living under [the bridge over the] last four days."

@chirag__gondi

I was driving near victoria park scarbrough when i saw this guy ( I saw pag ) ans i told my friend that i think thats one of our desi guy . Then we stopped and he told us he needs to make a call to his home in india we said lets go we can take you to your home and he said he dont have a home he is just living under bridge from last 4 days.

♬ original sound - ChiragGondi

Gondi, who is originally from Ambala, India, moved to Canada in 2021 as an international student himself. 

The man he was assisting — whose identity was kept anonymous — was just carrying one bag of belongings and food when he was dropped off at a nearby shelter. 

@chirag__gondi Replying to @ChiragGondi ♬ original sound - ChiragGondi

While speaking to shelter staff, the international student revealed that he was studying at Conestoga College in Kitchener and required cash to commute to school that week. 

"This poor baby I feel so bad for him. I wish I was close by," one person wrote. 

After the video was posted, dozens of people offered to pay for the student's rent, provide him with a phone, and even opened up the doors of their own homes to provide the man with a place to stay. 

"If you can't find a place I'm sure a local Gurudrawa will take you til you find a place. This is so upsetting," a comment reads. 

"Please share his details I'm happy to provide him accommodation," another person said. "We need more people like you. I hope and pray he will be okay," someone else wrote. 

In the end, the student was provided with a bed at the shelter after the group dropped him off. "He is safe and at a good place," Gondi wrote in an update.

Lead photo by

@ChiragGondi


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