THREE pals on a work Christmas party night out in Bristol paid for a homeless woman to spend a night in a hotel after bumping into her on the street.
Roger Hartigan and his two workmates Joe Rich and David Harrison stopped while on their way to a pub to talk to a 71-year-old woman who only had carrier bags to protect her from the cold.
The woman claimed she had nowhere to go so Roger and his colleagues decided that they simply could not leave her and continue with their night.
The lads walked her to a nearby hotel and paid £145 for her to stay there for the night.
Roger spoke to the Bristol Post about what happened: “It was about 9 pm and we had just left The Crown in Cork Street.
“I saw this woman and she looked very fragile. She said she was 71 years old and had nowhere to go.
“We gave her some money and some cigarettes and we tried to hire her a taxi to take her to a hotel – but none would stop.
“So some of the guys ran ahead to find a hotel with a spare room and I walked with her through the centre of town, carrying her stuff.
“Then one of the lads called to say they’d found a room in the Radisson Blu hotel opposite the Hippodrome. We walked her there and checked her in.”
Roger found out that the homeless woman had been living on the streets of Bristol for the past 18 years.
“She was just so vulnerable – there was no way I could leave her,” he added.
“I think she was a bit shocked at what was happening when I said we’d find her a hotel, but I reassured her we weren’t taking the mick – we just wanted to make sure she was safe.
“We were out on our Christmas do but once we saw her she became our priority.”
After finding the woman a bed for the night, Roger said he and his kind-hearted colleagues continued with their Christmas do.
Plenty of people had their own reactions to Roger and his friends' good gesture.
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