Tomek's journey
Britons' hand-on help for homeless tattoo scandal victim
MANY are aware of the story of Tomek, the homeless alcoholic that readily agreed to have his forehead tattooed in exchange for €100, offered by a British stag here in Benidorm back in May.
The outcry from both the British and Spanish community has been unanimous, with the blame split equally between the stag and tattooist, who carried out the controversial inking.
Virtually everyone has had total sympathy for Tomek, who due to his addiction and situation – sleeping rough on the streets, couldn’t resist what was a huge sum of money for him.
The stag in question approached him whilst he was sat on the pavement on Calle Gerona, asking passers-by for spare change.
Tomek readily agreed and the pair entered the tattoo studio – not a British one, where the artist was paid €30 to inscribe the name “Jamie Blake” and underneath “North Shields N28”.
The inking started and the name completed but only the letters ‘NO” of North Shields was completed as Tomek was in so much pain.
He woke up the following morning and saw what had happened, stating that he had no proper recollection due to the alcohol and took off to Granada, where he had some friends.
The story quickly spread and made headlines in the UK press and was quickly followed up by the Spanish media. Tomek’s friends pointed it out to him and the efforts being made by the British community in particular, spearheaded by Benidorm’s British Businesses Association, appalled at the behaviour of a fellow Brit.
A social media fundraising page was set up to raise money to have the tattoo removed and nearly €3,800 was pledged within days, with donations coming in from across Europe.
Tomek made contact and agreed to come back, taking an overnight bus from Granada and arrived in Benidorm last Friday at 05.15 to be met by Karen Maling-Cowles, President of BBBA and CBN reporter Irena Bodnarec, with his meagre possessions in a single carrier bag.
At 09.00 the pair accompanied him to the SATE office where they filed a 'denuncia' with the National Police – an official complaint against the tattoo studio and stag. The process is usually a quick one but took over three hours due to the complexity of the situation and a number of calls were made to the town hall and councillor for security Lorenzo Martinez, who asked to be kept updated.
Afterwards there was a media scrum outside, as the Spanish press got wind that Tomek was back.
He answered questions, had his photograph taken and was then taken for some food – he has a very small appetite, with his body sadly accustomed to little food living on the street.
He was bought a basic mobile phone so that he could get in contact with friends and family back in Poland and then went to Hospital Clinica Benidorm, who offered Tomek a free health check. Trying to find cheap accommodation was impossible, especially at this time of the year so he ended up staying in Karen’s home.
The following day he was taken to buy some necessities – trainers, the ones he had on he found in the bin and were the wrong size, t-shirts and shorts plus underwear and socks.
He kept looking at the prices with tears in his eyes, exclaiming that they couldn’t possibly spend so much, although the mesh lightweight trainers were only €7.99! An emotional goodbye A rehabilitation and detox centre in another part of Spain got in contact following the press coverage and offered a free place on a programme.
Tomek decided that the time was right for him to beat his demons and repay the kindness shown by so many complete strangers.
He realized that this was a chance in a lifetime, which many would never get and so on Sunday morning was taken to Benidorm bus station, clean, showered with his new possessions and a bus ticket far away from the toxic and destructive environment that Benidorm can be to an alcoholic.
It was a truly emotional goodbye. The priority is now to get Tomek off his alcohol dependency before tackling the tattoo. He will not be leaving the centre so it is not an issue at the moment.
The specialists have been in contact and stated that he may need hospitalization as he goes through the detoxing and withdrawal process and medication, which if chargeable, the money raised for him will be used to cover this.
He is not allowed any contact with the outside world but the centre is keeping us updated regarding his progress.
It will be a very long road but one that we all hope he manages.