Veteran 'overwhelmed' by Christmas present donations

A veteran struggling to buy Christmas presents after losing his job due to ill health has been "overwhelmed" by donations of gifts for his family.

Richard, from Birmingham, has post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and was worried about whether he could afford presents for his daughter.

But after veterans charity Project Nova posted an appeal online, he said about 20,000 people had responded.

"It's nice to see there are nice, kind-hearted people out there," he said.

"I'm really chuffed and overwhelmed with all the responses that do keep coming in."

Richard said he was talking to a friend about his situation and "the next thing he knew" a tweet had been posted by the charity, asking for donations.

He said he had lost his job as a lorry driver due to ill health, and had gone from earning more than £2,000 a month to £243, which he could "barely get by" on.

But seeing the responses - including from some people in the United States - had been a "massive shock" and he had not slept for two days.

"I'm not a speechless person but yeah, I was a bit taken back for words," he said.

"I had a little cry because I'm quite a stubborn person. I don't like asking for help."

He said he was shocked that about 20,000 people had responded or even looked at the tweet.

He said had not been told what all the gifts were for him and daughter, but knew someone has donated a laptop for his daughter.

"Primarily I want to say a big thank you to the thousands of people that have kindly donated and shown a bit of love and care over this Christmas," he said.

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