A man trapped in Vietnam has said he would rather die on the streets homeless than leave - without his cat.
Daniel Keane, from Cork, is down to his last $12 (£9) after struggling to find work over the last seven months due to lockdown.
He moved to Saigon to teach English two years ago and said he was happy initially - before the pandemic struck.
He's now desperate to get back home to Ireland - but refuses to leave his "baby", Dobby, behind.
Daniel told RSVP Live : "Because of Covid, I had no salary for four months last year and I will be nine months this year without a salary by the time the current lockdown ends.
"The school I worked for said they would support us over the pandemic but they have failed to, and they owe us wages they haven’t paid.
You can donate to Daniel's GoFundMe page here.
“I had plenty of savings but they have been totally wiped out on rent and Visa fees.”
Daniel resorted to teaching English to local children in exchange for rice and eggs to keep him going, but now the country is under severe lockdown he has had to stop doing so.
He said: “I live on a very poor street but some of the parents had been giving me food in exchange for teaching their kids. Now with the hardcore lockdown, everybody looks at you like you’ve got Covid.
“They see a white person, you’re the cause of bringing Covid into the country. There’s a lot of discrimination against us.”
He is only allowed to leave his apartment twice every two weeks to go to the shop - but that isn’t straightforward either.
“You’ve got to have a special card that allows you to go to a particular shop twice every two weeks,” he explained.
“By the time you get to the store, there’s a queue, and you’re in the queue for two or three hours. By the time you get into the store to buy rice or water, everything is gone.”
Daniel said he is frightened by the military presence he sees on the streets.
He added: “There’s a curfew from 6pm until 6am. Absolutely nobody is allowed on the street. I have heard gunshots, I don’t know if they have been warning shots.
“If you’re on the street from 6pm until 6am you’re in big, big trouble. It’s like a ghost town. Everyone just closes their doors and windows and stays indoors until morning.
“It’s so scary to see police walking around with machine guns. One time I was beaten - I just totally forgot to put on my mask, it’s the only time I forgot in two years.
"I was in a rush to get food for my cat, I was on my motorbike stopped at the lights and felt this whack of a bamboo stick across my back, two or three times. I had to break the red lights and just drive off.”
His friend Simon has started a GoFundMe page to help get Daniel home - but he won’t go without his beloved cat, Dobby.
“The cat was found in the river in a bag, he was about two weeks old," he said.
"There was a bag thrown into the river with four kittens in it, and sadly the other cats didn’t make it.
"Someone had heard the squealing and rescued them with a bamboo stick. Dobby went to a shelter and I adopted him when he was old enough to come home with me.
“It’s very complicated and expensive to bring the cat home to Ireland. People are saying ‘Oh leave your cat.’
"But I would rather die on the streets homeless than leave without the cat. He just looks at me like I’m his father and he’s my baby.
"I look in his eyes and there’s no way I could leave without him. You have to be a pet lover to understand.
“He has been such a great companion to me. Without him, and without the help of people at home, I’d be in the river myself.”
Explaining the complex process of bringing Dobby to Ireland, he said: "He’s got to have a microchip, and a rabies vaccine.
"Then you have to wait a month until he’s fit enough for certain blood tests that have to be sent to London and then back to Vietnam.
"Then he has to have boosters, he has to be cleared by a vet to travel, he’s got to get a pet passport and a certification from the Government to say that he’s disease-free.
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“The prices of flights, I couldn’t believe it.
"I got a quote from a charity that helps people relocate their pets to Ireland, they said the cheapest quote for relocating Dobby is about $600 (£435), $700 (£510).
"The cheapest flight, because there are very limited flights out of Saigon, is $3,500 (£2,540) to $4,500 (£3,250) dollars.
“Then because I don’t have the vaccine yet, I would have to isolate in a hotel in Ireland when I get home which is going to cost me €1,280 (£1,090).
“I am asking people for anything they can give to help me and Dobby get home.”
You can donate to Daniel's GoFundMe page here.
