Let’s just get something straight—Ed Sheeran is seriously the best. He’s a lyrical genius with fiery red hair, a British accent that’ll leave you weak at the knees, and his friendship with Taylor Swift is legit #SquadGoals.
As if his down-to-earth personality and love songs about “Beth” weren’t already making us sob like an episode of This Is Us, the pop sensation cranked up the waterworks this weekend when a video of him SAVING little boys in Liberia made its way across the Internet.
To help with Comic Relief’s annual Red Nose Day fundraiser, Ed paid a visit to the African country to film an appeal in a Liberian slum.
It was there where he met a little boy named JD and his five friends. Ed had watched JD being beaten by an older man, and he listened to the boys’ emotional stories of the abuse and rape in the village.
Ed learned that JD had dreams of becoming president one day, but the boy owned one set of clothes, and slept in a boat on the beach.
It was in this same boat where the rape and beatings from the older boys took place.
Ed also discovered that JD and his friends survive on just one cup of water and a piece of bread every day.
Their lives and stories struck a chord with the singer, and Ed made the decision to do everything he could to protect the boys and get them to safety.
“Really does not feel right leaving at all,” the singer said to producers. “I mean, the only thing you can do is help them, which we should.”
He said his “natural instinct” was to put them all in the car and get them moved to a safe place in a safe school.
You can literally see Ed’s heart tearing at the seams as he prompts producers for what he can do to help these boys, because leaving them was no longer an option. He offered his own money saying, “It doesn’t matter how much it costs, can we just get him and his five mates in a house with an older person to look after them?”
Comic Relief has confirmed that JD and the five boys are now safe as a result of Ed’s generosity. But just like Ed emphasized in the video, “We are going to sort them out but these kids are just five in a million.”
The singer urged others to join in the cause with an earnest plea for the public to help children like JD.
“This is the really harsh reality for street children here and across the world. As you’re tucking your children into bed tonight, children like JD are huddling together, sleeping outside in danger and very, very vulnerable. They really need your help tonight. Please give what you can.”
See more from Ed’s encounter with JD and his eye-opening journey to the slums of Liberia in the video below.
https://youtu.be/oCJoptIuGlo
