Evening Telegraph (First Edition)
John returns home
£3,000 raised to fly homeless man’s body back to Latvia
Gevtenijs Racko, known as John, was found slumped at the Cowgate, near the Deja Vu nightclub, on January 23. He died later in hospital.
John, who was in his 40s, was originally from Latvia but moved to Scotland, initially living in Edinburgh where he worked in a bed shop before he settled in Dundee.
The father-of-one’s family still stay in Latvia, which prompted his friend Nick Hawkins to set up an online donation page to pay for the repatriation of his body.
Nick had been acting as next of kin following John’s death. He added: “John worked for me in Edinburgh for three years and during that time he became a personal friend.
“Unfortunately, he had fallen on hard times but he was too proud to ask anyone for help.
“I created a JustGiving page to try to help with the costs of getting John’s body home.”
As well as the JustGiving page, Nick’s family and friends also donated money and the Scottish Furniture Trades Benevolent Association gave £1,000.
A total of £3,000 was raised and Nick added: “By raising that amount of money we were able to cover the full cost of the repatriation of his body and John’s funeral was held in Latvia.
“It was amazing to be able to get his body back home to his family, especially as he has a 13-yearold son.
“His family have been incredibly grateful for the fundraising and our help in bringing John home.
“They were kind enough to send me a hamper following the funeral.
“His mother even took the time to knit some things for my daughter, which was really touching.
“I am just incredibly glad John was given the send-off he deserved.”
Arron Thomson, 17, met John when he began sleeping rough near his home and started to provide him with warm blankets, hot food and drinks each night.
Arron said he was pleased to hear that John’s body had been returned to his family.
He added: “I am really glad to hear John was finally able to get home and be with his family again.
“I think it is especially important for his son, who I feel really bad for.
“His son had not seen much of his dad so it will be great for him to get a bit of closure and have a place to visit his dad.”
A HOMELESS man who died after collapsing on a city street has been laid to rest in his home country Latvia thanks to a fundraising campaign.