A homeless man has come out with a testimony that should make all of us question our society and open our eyes to the world’s misery.
Aaron McCarthy was reportedly sitting outside a Nationwide bank branch next door to the McDonald’s on Victoria Street, London, UK last weekend when he was ordered by the fast food establishment’s guards to move away.
Footage which has since been uploaded to social media shows one of the security staff throwing water over the ground with a mop next to where the homeless man had been installed, sparking outrage from passersby.
Footage of Aaron McCarthy, a homeless man, showed a McDonald’s security guard wetting his sleeping bag and belongings
The 25-year-old unhoused man reportedly said he could not sleep as a result of the upsetting attack, which left a toll on his mental health, as well as his bedding cold and soaked while smelling of bleach.
Aaron told the Daily Mail: ‘It made me feel like I was no one, nothing. What happened has really affected my mental health. It has made my PTSD go off again and made my ADHD get worse.
“There was no reason for that security guard to throw water on my sleeping bag. I told him that I was not outside McDonald’s and that the private Victoria security [who controls the pavement area around Victoria station] said it was okay.”
“They do it on purpose to keep homeless people away but they mop this bit which isn’t even their business,” Aaron said
The unfortunate man shed light on his life in the streets of the capital, which he has lived in since he was a teenager.
He recalled: “I’ve been on the streets since I was 17. I was born a heroin addict. My mum and my dad were addicts. My dad was in jail. I don’t know my real parents. I met my real mum once when I was 18. I’ve never met my dad. I don’t know him.
“My adopted mother lives in Wales. I realize [now] why she has had to take a step back [from being in a close relationship with me] because I have severe ADHD, post-traumatic distress disorder, borderline personality disorder.”
“I had to leave because it was so stressful, and I hardly slept the entire night because my bedding was all soaked,” he explained
“She never knew this when she adopted me. So she did not know I was going to grow up the way I am now. But it’s tough living on the streets. But to be abused like I was by that security guard was not on. He did not have to do that.”
According to the publication, Aaron is originally from Limerick, Ireland, and has been surviving with the generosity of his close-knit friendship with other homeless people, especially his girlfriend, Chel.
He said: “Everyone seems to think that people on the streets are drug addicts. But I’m not. I don’t choose to be here. I’ve asked and asked and asked for help but it seems like no one wants to know. I need help and I don’t get help.”
Hi @McDonaldsUK. Do you think it is acceptable for your staff to soak the sleeping bags of homeless people in the middle of winter (or any other time of the year)? Disgusting behaviour. He wasn’t even outside your premises. @crisis_uk @Shelter #McDonalds #homelessness #london pic.twitter.com/HX8dFPbpV7
— Damon Evans (@damocrat) December 9, 2023
Aaron had previously spoken about his sleeping bag being ruined by the security guards. He recently told The Sun: “They do it on purpose to keep homeless people away but they mop this bit which isn’t even their business. They can’t be doing that.
“I couldn’t even sleep that night because my stuff was soaked. Some of it is still damp now. That water had bleach in it. It was cold water and it’s winter. I could’ve died.”
Nights have been rather cold in London for the past week, with the weekend dropping to approximately 9°C (48°F).
Prolonged exposure to cold temperatures can lead to hypothermia, causing the body temperature to be too low to make the brain function normally, making the victim unable to think clearly or move well.
Aaron reportedly explained that he has been sleeping on the streets since he was 17
According to the Forest Service research and the National Institutes of Health, this makes hypothermia particularly dangerous since a person may not know it is happening and won’t be able to do anything about it.
Moreover, hypothermia is most likely at very cold temperatures, but it can occur even at cool temperatures above 4°C (40°F) if a person becomes chilled from rain, sweat, or submersion in cold water.
Aaron reportedly explained that he had slept rough since he was a teenager, and even revealed having been stabbed, as well as having bricks smashed over his head.
The young man further revealed he will be sleeping on the streets at Christmas as he says he has nowhere to stay, according to the DailyMail.
“I was was born a heroin addict. My mum and my dad were addicts. My dad was in jail. I don’t know my real parents,” the young man said
I’ve written to the CEO of @McDonaldsUK about the incident outside one of their restaurants over the weekend.
We want to work with high street businesses to help ensure better support for those sleeping rough. Let’s make this a moment that prompts lasting change. pic.twitter.com/Fpi1sSrKsG— Matt Downie (@matthew_downie) December 11, 2023
The Irishman reportedly receives £700 per month in Personal Independence Payment and recently had his Universal Credit reduced.
Aaron told The Telegraph: “I told them I was outside the bank, not McDonald’s and so I had nothing to do with them but then one of them came out with a bucket of water with bleach in it, I could smell it.
“The guy started mopping the floor and kicking my stuff into the water. It was disgusting. I had to leave because it was so stressful, and I hardly slept the entire night because my bedding was all soaked. You can still smell the bleach on my blanket.”
In the footage shared on social media, the security guard is shown drenching the area where Aaron had been camped out.
In an official statement, McDonald’s wrote that it was “shocked and saddened” by the events
We are shocked and saddened by this incident. The third party security guards involved have been permanently removed from our restaurants and the restaurant team has been reminded of the importance of treating all people with respect, including vulnerable people both in the…
— McDonald’s UK (@McDonaldsUK) December 10, 2023
In the video, the homeless man is heard saying “Leave me alone” as his belongings are kicked out of the way.
Additionally, bystanders can be heard describing the situation as “outrageous” and “bang out of order”.
After the incident escalates to a more tense situation, another security guard can be seen coming out of the restaurant, asking Aaron: “Why you causing trouble?” to which the crowd is quickly shown jumping to his defense, with the man filming insisting: “What do you mean causing trouble? The guy’s just covered his sleeping bag in water. It’s winter! That is outrageous.”
Damon Evans, who posted the footage on X (formerly known as Twitter), tagged McDonald’s and asked: “Do you think it is acceptable for your staff to soak the sleeping bags of homeless people in the middle of winter (or any other time of the year)? Disgusting behavior. He wasn’t even outside your premises.”
Many people came together in defense of poor Aaron, hoping to get him the help he needs
In an official statement, McDonald’s has said it was “shocked and saddened” by the incident and has permanently removed the “third party security guards” from its restaurant.
In a press release published by Crisis in 2020, a reported 200,000 households were predicted to experience the worst forms of homelessness during Christmas, including sleeping on the streets, hunkered down in sheds and garages, stuck in unstable accommodation such as B&Bs or sofa surfing far away from their support networks.
The organization’s research showed that for the previous five years, homelessness in the UK had been rising year on year, reaching a peak just before the pandemic when the number of homeless households jumped from 207,600 in 2018 to over 219,000 at the end of 2019.
People thought the security guard should be “named and shamed”
