If someone mugged you and you were able to track them down, what would be the first thing you will do? Most people would decide to call the cops and turn the culprit in. However, Winston Davis from London decided against it.
Instead of getting the mugger behind bars, Winston decided to talk to him.
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Winston’s 12-year-old nephew was on his way to buy a chocolate bar when someone took a knife and pointed it at the poor boy.
The incident ended with the mugger getting away with the boy’s bag, but this left a mark on Winston’s mind.
The heating engineer spent the next six weeks trying to locate the 16-year-old mugger who looked frightened when he pointed the knife at the boy who was only a few years younger than him. Something compelled the man to find him so he did and eventually tracked the teen mugger down.
“When it happened the lad that did it was gesturing to the knife on his leg, but you can see on camera that he hasn’t held it to his neck or anything, he just used it as a threat,” Winston recalls. “He told me he’s been in and out of detention centers and had no education and has literally been living in supported living.”
The teen mugger and Winston arranged to meet so the young man could return the bag he stole.
“I said to him, ‘look, I’ll help you if you return the bag.’ We made the agreement that he would go get the bag and come back the next day and fair play to him that’s exactly what he did.”
It was a good sign that the young man did not turn off his phone and that he was willing to meet and return the bag.
“Look, I know who you are, I know what you’ve done, and I can help you, but you’re going to have to return the bag,” Winston said, remembering the confrontation.
When they met, Winston found new information about the teen, and what he learned gave him a new purpose after getting to know him. As they talked, Winston soon found out that the teen had no parents, no job, and no education.
“Although what he did was completely wrong, he said he was broke and needed the money… he’s 16 years old and has no qualification,” Winston shared further.
However, he had one thing in him: his dream of becoming a computer engineer.
Their heartfelt conversation was all caught on camera.
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What the young man did not know was that Winston was also a charity worker. He was the chairman of the Southside Young Leaders Academy, a charity that helps young African and Afro-Caribbean boys become leaders. After their talk, Winston called out for people to support the young man with a dream.
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“Despite this he wants to work in computer engineering… this kid doesn’t need punishment, he needs help… if there is anyone that knows about career routes/training programs for him, please drop me a dm.”
He shared with his followers how much the teen needed their help and that he deserves to be given a chance in life.
Winston saw that he needed help and wanted to give him an opportunity to grow.
“Sometimes children are so traumatized from what they’ve been through as young children that it’s really hard for them to have any connection or belief that they can do anything other than what they’ve been exposed to at such a young age.”
At the end of the day, seeing what’s underneath the surface was the key to finding out that all the young man needed was someone to know he needed help, and that person is Winston.
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Know more about this inspiring encounter by watching the video below.
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