Homeless man who jumped into Thames to save woman's life finds job as coffee cart barista

Adan Abobaker, 44, a former trained chef, risked his life to rescue a young woman who threw herself from Blackfriars Bridge

A homeless hero who jumped into the frozen Thames to save a woman from drowning has finally found a job that has taken him off the streets and given him a “chance to get his life back”.

Adan Abobaker, 44, a former trained chef, risked his life to rescue a young woman who threw herself from Blackfriars Bridge one night in November 2010. As he braved below zero temperatures, thieves stole his clothes and possessions - a jumper he was given as a present by his brother, his woolly hat, gloves and flask of tea.

Mr Abobaker, from Kingston, contracted hypothermia but was found a place at St Mungo’s hostel in Southwark and presented with the highest civilian award for bravery.

The hero, who first became homeless in 2001, found a flat with a girlfriend and thought his life was coming together until the breakdown of the relationship saw him battling depression and back on the streets.

But now, after getting a part-time job offer from social enterprise Change Please to train as a barista on a coffee cart in Borough Market, he has secured a roof over his head and is “just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel”.

Speaking as he served lattes to tourists in the busy market, Mr Abobaker said: “I’m doing a few hours a week to get back into a routine and being around people again.

“I’m in a hostel at the moment, but living on the streets for so long took its toll. It was difficult. People are nasty to people on the streets. I’ve had people try to urinate on me, light matches on me, it was hard.

“I always worked while I was homeless, but it’s difficult, I felt like I was below everyone else. You lose a part of yourself, a big part of who you are. You feel like garbage... It’s nice to see people at Borough Market like this, not as a beggar asking to clean their rubbish to get some tips.

“I am just starting to see the light at the end of the tunnel... the job gives me a purpose, I don’t feel like I am in survival mode all the time and I am hopeful that this will lead to full time work later on. I trained as a chef so it would be great to get back there at some point.”

Mr Abobaker has not spoke to the woman he rescued since, but would like to reunite. He said: “I took a long time to get over it... I still dream about it. I remember the waves coming over my head and swimming down towards her.

“I hope the young woman is doing very well. I didn’t get in contact because I wanted her to move on and to get over that day, and I thought I would remind her of it, but if she wants to contact me now, I’d be happy to meet.”

Change Please, launched in 2015, operates 15 coffee cart locations around the capital and sources coffee beans from the founder’s Old Spike roastery in Peckham - which also employs former homeless Londoners. It offers the London Living Wage and support with finding housing, bank accounts and therapy. More than 35 trainee baristas have spent six months on carts, before being assisted in finding full-time work with partner companies.

Mr Abobaker said: “They know that after being on the streets for so long it would be an adjustment for me.

“They come from the position that I am a person who wants to get my life back.”

He said Change Please gives people like him a chance - but added that he is like anyone who falls on hard times. “Everyone is just one paycheck away from being on the streets in London. London is a hard city,” he said.

Change Please founder Cemal Ezel said: “It’s incredible that we can walk past someone like Adan on the street and we don’t stop to think who they are or what value they can have on society. In Adan’s case, he won the highest civilian award for bravery and is a real hero. Yet because he was on the street he was disregarded with the same stigma as all homeless people. Homeless people are just like anyone else, who has fallen on incredibly tough times, and Change Please is trying to help as many like Adan as possible – people who we walk past every day – and give them a second chance at life.”

For more information see https://www.changeplease.org/

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Create Account you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy policy .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in

MORE ABOUT