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Priest Known For Random Acts Of Kindness To Help Man Return To Sick Mother

Posted at 3:50 PM, Mar 07, 2019
and last updated 2019-03-07 20:12:18-05

CASEY COUNTY, Ky. (LEX 18) – A central Kentucky priest known for random acts of kindness as a Papal Missionary of Mercy has agreed to pay for the plane ticket of a man desperate to get back to his sick mother in Afghanistan.

Abdul Samad, brought to Kentucky from Afghanistan as a teenager after he was injured by a landmine, is trying to get home. But even with the help of his neighbors and friends, he’s not sure he’ll be able to make it in time.

Samad spoke with LEX 18 and shared photos and memories of his mother, who he hasn’t seen in nearly ten years.

Born in Afghanistan, Samad says he was separated from her at 10.  At 13, he was injured by a landmine. He lost both hands and an eye.

“As soon as I touched it, it blew up and my life from that day has never been the same,” said Samad.

He was taken to the United States for medical care and ended up in Casey County at the Galilean Christian Home.

Now he works at the Bread of Life cafe, bussing tables. He enjoys the job, but it’s not enough to get him where he says he needs to be –back to Afghanistan to visit his sick mother.

“I just told her that I am coming, mom. So, just hold on,” he told LEX 18’s Katherine Collins.

Agofundme page has raised over $5,000 since our story aired. But Father Jim Sichko, a priest well known to LEX 18, reached out to Samad and agreed to pay for a plane ticket so that he could return to his mother’s side.

Sichko said he heard the story and wanted to do the gesture in honor of his late mother, Miss Marie.

The money raised by the gofundme page will now be used to donate to Samad’s mother’s medical expenses.

If you would like to donate, please clickhere.