Stranded in an airport for 7 months, refugee finds a home thanks to a Canadian stranger

Hassan Al Kontar was stuck. A member of a targeted religious minority, the 37-year-old had fled his native Syria and worked in the United Arab Emirates for several years. When his work permit expired and Syria was still inhospitable to him, he scrambled to find a country that would issue him a visa.

As a Malaysian travel visa was about to expire in March, he readied to board a flight to Ecuador. The flight was delayed, and by the time it was ready, that travel visa had expired. There he was at the Kuala Lumpur airport, terrified to return to his native Syria, unable to find a country that would accept him.

He needed to do something. He created videos of his plight and tweeted them to thousands of followers. He washed in the airport bathrooms, slept under stairwells, and ate whatever leftover airline food generous employees offered him. He crocheted, watered airport plants, and hoped for a savior.

Thousands of miles away in Whistler in the Canadian province of British Columbia, Laurie Cooper was touched by Al Kontar's story. A media relations consultant living in a log cabin, Cooper volunteers with charitable nonprofits and rallied others to the man's cause. They raised over $20,000 to sponsor him, secured him a full-time job offer, and identified close relatives living in Canada. All that effort and leg work for a perfect stranger. 

Despite a number of complications, including Al Kontar's arrest and detention for loitering without a boarding pass, Cooper and friends persevered. Al Kontar was granted asylum in Canada. His saviors were present to greet the thin, unshaven, incredibly grateful man when he arrived in Vancouver this week.