NI father brims with pride after daughter gives her dinner to homeless veteran
Video of heart-warming gesture goes viral with over 114 million views
A NORTHERN Ireland man whose daughter gave up her dinner after she spotted a homeless man outside a restaurant has said he is so proud of her.
The touching gesture by eightyear- old Ella Scott has been viewed more than 114 million times on the internet. She had been enjoying dinner with her father in Monterey, California.
Proud dad Eddie Scott (38), who is originally from Portstewart, told the Belfast Telegraph he is now involved in efforts to get the homeless man reunited with his family.
The man is 62-year-old David Salkowski from Philadelphia, an army veteran who suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder.
Since Ella gave Mr Salkowski her food, the footage, filmed by her dad, has been viewed 70 million times through newspaper sites and a further 44 million time through the proud father’s own Facebook page.
And Ella’s kind gesture has now led to efforts to reunite the old soldier with his family.
Eddie said: “His sister saw the video and reached out to me. His name is David Salkowski, 62-years-old from Philadelphia.
“He has post-traumatic stress disorder from his days in the army. He is a veteran. His sister Rosanne hasn’t seen or heard of him in six months.
“Ella has now done two news shows in Monterey and today we both did one in San Francisco.
“The purpose of Ella and I do- ing these TV shows is to try to find David and reconnect him with his sister.
“I have not heard of David being spotted yet.”
In the video clip, Ella had been sitting in a restaurant with Eddie when she spotted the homeless man outside.
She immediately asked her dad whether she could give her food to him and he said yes.
Eddie, who filmed his daughter taking her untouched dinner plate out of the Californian restaurant, can be heard telling Ella: “You got it. Go, go, you got it.”
As she walks outside, he can be heard saying: “My girl right here, I love her to bits. He’s like ‘Oh my God, are you kidding me, I just got steak and potatoes’.”
The young girl then skips back into the restaurant and returns to the table, where her proud father says: “Good job, Ella!”
He adds: “Ella, you’re amazing. I think you just made his day. I think you just made his week. How does that make you feel?” She replies, “I like it” and then fist bumps her dad as she smiles into the camera.
Eddie, who posted the video to his Facebook page, said he had been teaching Ella to look out for those lesser-off since she was three-years-old.
Ella lives in Monterey with her mother, from whom Eddie is divorced, and he lives in San Jose. He is a professional golfer — a PGA teaching professional at La Rinconada County Club in Los Gatos. He has been working in the golf business for the past 14 years. He graduated from the University of Ul- ster’s Coleraine campus in business then moved to New York in 2002 and started working at Westchester Country Club.
Eddie said when he took the footage he never expected it to go around the world and people from across the globe have been in touch with him to express their delight.
He said Ella is a “little overwhelmed” and it has made her want to do more good deeds.