A shaggy-hared homeless man sat at a public piano on a Florida street. He tore through an electrifying cover of ‘Come Sail Away’, to the shock of passersby. As he continued to play, one spectator reflected “Do you know how hard that is to play?!” Luckily, a video was recorded, one that went viral and reached a whopping 45 million views. Fame allowed the homeless man to attend rehabilitation and get the second chance he needed. Watch the video in the comments below to see his transformation. You might recognize him!
Life is often a roller coaster. One minute you are up, and the next one you are down. The ugly truth is that we never know what awaits as at the corner and whether any struggle is on the way.
The life story of a man named Donald Gould is the perfect proof of that.
The entire country learned of Daniel when a video of him playing the piano on the streets of Florida was shared by Mashable. Homeless, untidy, and forgotten by society, the only thing he had he held to from his past life was his ability to play the piano, in a way only true professionals can.
Reportedly, Daniel studied music theory at Spring Arbor University and was a Marine, but following his divorce with his wife, he lost custody of his son and his life took the wrong turn. He ended up on the streets and turned to drugs. His addiction made his days a living hell.
One day, he sat on the piano on the street and wowed the passersby. They were enchanted by the music he produced. Many of them were quick to take videos of the impressive performance, and one of them ended up going viral, gathering over 45 million views on YouTube alone. The homeless ex-Marine tore through a cover of Styx’s 1977 hit Come Sail Away.
Once people learned of Daniel’s sad life story, someone started a GoFundMe page which helped raise over $40,000.
The money was used for Daniel’s rehabilitation. He attended a rehab facility and was able to take his old life back.