Woman Apologizes To Homeless McDonald’s Worker After She Posted Photo Shaming Him

All it takes is one unfortunate turn in life and we could lose the roof over our heads.

Simon Childs, 21, was in an unfortunate situation.

At his lowest point, the homeless McDonald’s worker slept in one of the restaurant’s booths. As he was resting at the Fayette County McDonald’s in between shifts, a woman uploaded a degrading photo of him.

Luann Cofield snapped a photo of Childs and shared it on Facebook. In a long rant she wrote it was “just another reason for her to leave Fayetteville.”

What she couldn’t have known was that Childs was going through a terribly hard time. His mother had recently passed away and he was working to provide for his four-month-old baby.

“I’ve been going through a hard time with my mom passing,” he said to WSB-TV in an interview last week.  

The Facebook post was made to shame Childs but in fact the complete opposite happened.

The local Georgia community have rallied behind Childs. He has received a new wardrobe, a free haircut, and landed a new job at a construction site. A local restaurateur even loaned Childs an SUV for him to get around in.

“I’m no longer sleeping at McDonald’s so that’s good…I feel great,” Childs said to WSBTV.  

In her original Facebook post, Cofield wrote: “Just another reason for me to leave Fayetteville.”

“I was in the McDonald’s in the middle of town and I saw this guy sleeping in the booth, I go tell an employee that someone is asleep in their booth and her response was ‘Oh yeah, we know, hee hee, it’s ok,’ and I said, ‘Not really, but whatever.’

Luann Cofield’s post was met with public outrage. The backlash saw her delete her account and have a dramatic change of heart.

On Friday, Cofield met Childs outside the McDonald’s where the original photo was taken.

She apologised and hugged the young father. 

“I’m sorry, you know? Because you know that horrified me. That breaks my heart for you,” she told Childs.

When asked if she would ever do something like that again, Cofield said,”Absolutely not. And I would handle it differently. Maybe talk to somebody, talk to them and see what the situation.”

Childs assured her he wasn’t ever angry with her and is now thankful for her. 

“I do want to thank you. Not for the post per se, but for helping me pick my life up off the ground,” Childs said to Cofield. 

Now Childs wants to help other homeless people with the resources he’s received. 

“I actually want to use everything I’m getting from this and help other homeless people,” he said. 

Well wishers have started a GoFundMe page for him to raise money to get a place for his family. As of Monday it had surpassed its goal of $5,000 reaching $10,162.