Sierra Leone sprinter, who lost entire family to Ebola, now homeless on streets of London

20 year old Jimmy Thoronka, a top sprinter from Sierra Leone who competed at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow in August 2014 is now broke, homeless and living illegally on the streets of London. Jimmy vanished after the Games where he competed in the 100-meter relay race after he was told that his entire adoptive family had been wiped out by Ebola in the small village of Bombali district in Sierra Leone.

While trying to find his feet in London, his passport and all the money he had was stolen from him...

Jimmy's Visa expired in September and with no way to get back home, he started to sleep on the streets.

“Mostly, I sleep at the park,” he told The Guardian. “Sleeping in the park, sleeping on the bus, moving around the bus up and down … So I’ll be doing that until daybreak.”

He said he still hopes to be a world athlete and has been keeping shape even though he was destitute
"I really want to be a star, a real athlete, a good athlete, one of the best stars in the world, or at least in my country. So I have that dream, that even in the situation I’m in, and the constraints that I face, I just keep saying to myself, ‘OK, I have to keep training, I have to keep training.’”

Shortly after Guardian ran his interview, he was tracked down and arrested by London police on a charge of overstaying his visa. But after a thorough investigation, the UK police decided not to deport after confirming that his hometown Gbendembu in Sierra Leone was badly hit by Ebola and remains under quarantine.

 “I am so happy that I am free again,” he told the Guardian on Sunday. “At first I was told that they were going to send me back to Sierra Leone and I cried and cried. I was very scared.”

After Guardian ran a second story on the athlete, someone touched by his plight opened a gofundme page for him to help him raise money. So far about $40,000 has been raised for Jimmy.

 “I am amazed that people all over the world have offered to help me after they read my story,” he told Guardian. “I don’t know how to thank everyone. If I can make a success of my life as a sprinter my plan is to go back to Sierra Leone and help homeless people. I know how much suffering there is when you are homeless. Last week I had no hope but now maybe I will make it.”

Source: Linda Ikej