Single Dad Sells Pens To Feed His Kids. When The Photo Went Viral? UNBELIEVABLE

They say a picture is worth a thousand words, but for Abdul Halim al-Attar, the photo above was worth so much more.

Here at LifeDaily, we know well just how much social media can change a person’s life. Here’s one of those amazing success stories that can really put this idea into perspective.

When Norwegian journalist and activist Gissur Simonarson snapped a photo of al-Attar, a Syrian refugee in Beirut, Lebanon selling pens on the street, while holding his young daughter Reem in August, 2015, he probably just thought it was a powerful representation of the terrible crisis going on. What happened next changed both of their lives forever.

“It’s a terribly emotional picture.”

“You see the look in his face and just the way he holds the pens out, as if those pens are everything he has in the world,” Simonarson told CNN.

Syrian father selling pens in the streets of #Beirut with his sleeping daughter #Lebanon #Syria pic.twitter.com/KOz4mjW1rd

— Gissur Simonarson CN (@GissiSim) August 25, 2015

After sharing the photo on his Twitter page, Simonarson received an overwhelming amount of responses from people wanting to track down al-Attar to help him. Simonarson made it his mission to find the single father so desperately trying to feed his two young children and didn’t stop until he did.

The activist created the Twitter account @buy_pens and an Indiegogo page where people could donate to help the man behind the viral photo. That’s when people around the world proved there was hope for humanity, as Simonarson’s goal of raising $5,000 for al-Attar was surpassed by more than $80,000 in about 24 hours.

Fast forward to December, 2015, and al-Attar has gone from hopeless single dad to hero known across the world.

[Source: Twitter]

“Not only did my life change, but also the lives of my children and the lives of people in Syria whom I helped,” al-Attar told NBC News. Al-Attar, pictured above with Reem, gave away a large portion of his donations to other Syrian refugees to help start a new life.

With much of the rest of the nearly $191,000 in donations, the 33-year-old has since started a bakery, a kebab shop and another small restaurant, employing nearly 20 refugees from his war-torn former country.

However, what might be best of all is that the formerly destitute street vendor told NBC he finally feels like a member of a community at his new home in Beirut.

“They just greet me better now when they see me. They respect me more.”

Learn more about this man’s touching success story below and please SHARE this video on Facebook to spread hope.

[Featured Image: Twitter]