The Internet can be a terrible place. But it can do wonders, too. Recently, a yard keeper named Yury Vetlugin paid off his crippling debt, and it was all thanks to social media.
Fashion photographer Roman Filippov gave Yury, his childhood friend, a GQ-esque photoshoot and shared the results online, where the images instantly went viral, telling Vetlugin's turbulent life story.
However, it was so heartbreaking that people thought it wasn't enough to "like" it. They wanted to write him a new chapter as well.
Meet Yury, a 42-year-old yard keeper from Ufa, Russia
Image credits: filippov_photo
This seemingly ordinary man has had a really extraordinary life
Image credits: filippov_photo
He recently went viral after his childhood friend, Roman Filippov, gave him a GQ-esque photoshoot
Image credits: filippov_photo
"I first met Yura as a kid at a summer camp for children with disabilities where my mother worked," Filippov told Bored Panda
Image credits: filippov_photo
"Yura was left on the doorsteps of an orphanage as a newborn. He grew up there and was diagnosed with a developmental disorder"
Image credits: filippov_photo
Roman said Yury is a little bit different, but he is very kind and an incredibly hard-worker, even though some people think that yard keepers are lazy
Image credits: filippov_photo
Filippov's mother and grandmother have been looking after Yury for years, sheltering him at their house and later helping him get state-guaranteed housing
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But a few years ago, people who Yury believed to be his friends took advantage of him
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They tricked him and took out roughly 700,000 rubles (about $9,330) worth of loans under his name, and bought a house
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Yury couldn't pay back the loans, so he lost everything, including his pension and salary
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The group then took him to the house which was located in a remote village and they turned Yury into a slave
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Yury was working as an unpaid houseworker, getting barely enough food to survive—the already slim man had lost 15 kilograms (33 pounds) there
Image credits: filippov_photo
The gang would routinely beat him and one time they nearly killed him with an ax, so Yury decided to run for his life
Image credits: filippov_photo
He was about 30 kilometers (19 miles) away from Ufa but managed to come back, and Filippov's family took him under their wing again
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"He is slightly different. His disorder isn't bad, but he's a bit more naive than we are, he's like a big child. But he's a lot like us too. He has both positive and negative traits, with the only negative being that fraudsters can manipulate him"
Image credits: filippov_photo
After Yury came back, Filippov started taking pictures of his everyday life
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The photos were constantly reminding him that Yury was a very beautiful man both inside and out
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And that's when he came up with the idea for the fundraiser
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As the mock GQ photoshoot was going viral, the donations started coming in
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Eventually, Yury had enough money to repay his debt
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Even the mayor of Ufa learned about Yury and set up a meeting with him. Filippov hopes it could help bring justice to his childhood friend
Image credits: filippov_photo