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How this UK journalist became godfather of Indian autorickshaw driver's sonHe thanked his followers for providing Shaan’s wife with medical treatment
DH Web Desk
Last Updated IST
The Mumbai auto driver. Credit: Twitter/ @joerwallen
The Mumbai auto driver. Credit: Twitter/ @joerwallen

An award-winning human rights reporter has become the godfather to the son of an autorickshaw driver whom he happened to meet in India in 2021.

Joe Wallen is a UK journalist covering South Asia who shared the story of a ‘beautiful & unexpected friendship’ on Twitter on Sunday and received a lot of love from the netizens.

In his tweet, Wallen recalled their first meeting, “I got in a random rickshaw at Jio World. It was the start of the most beautiful & unexpected friendship - Shaan has driven me every day since.”

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“Today, his wife gave birth to a son. He’s called the baby Yusuf - the Urdu for Joseph - and, asked me to be godfather,” he added.

Wallen also shared a photo of Shaan and the newborn baby. He also mentioned that Shaan’s wife had complications with her pregnancy and that she is from a small village in remote Uttar Pradesh.

He thanked his followers for providing Shaan’s wife with medical treatment.

The story touched the hearts of a lot of people and the users called the friendship ‘wonderful’, ‘fantastic’, and ‘extraordinary’.

After people demanded to know more about the story, Wallen on Tuesday updated that he has written a longer piece on their friendship.

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(Published 20 December 2022, 16:38 IST)