An orphaned boy who moved Ed Sheeran to tears with his harrowing ordeal of sleeping on the streets in a poverty stricken African nation is starting a new life with a ‘mother’ and four of his closest friends, MailOnline reports.
The youngster named JD was saved by the pop superstar who refused to leave the boy’s side until he was safely housed.
With the help of the charity Street Child MailOnline tracked down JD to his new home.
It was discovered that he is a happy, smiling boy far from the cowed youngster who touched the heart of Sheeran when they met while filming for Comic Relief earlier this year.
Now JD has to pinch himself that his life has been so dramatically transformed and told MailOnline he is grateful to Sheeran and the millions of strangers who donated that have helped re-build his life.
In footage seen by millions of viewers Sheeran was visibly moved by the plight of JD.
He heard how he slept rough on the streets, only had one set of clothes and was easy prey for bullying older boys. He was with a group of boys who had been raped and abused by older men.
Having watched him being pushed around by an adult, the singer offered to pay for a hotel to make sure JD and his friends were safe.