A Scotland fan who gave his £900 World Cup ticket to a scammed supporter has donated nearly £2,000 to Tartan Army trekker Craig Ferguson’s 3,000-mile charity walk. John MacLean handed over a prized ticket for Scotland’s opening World Cup clash against Haiti to Jack Rundell after hearing the young supporter was duped out of £500 at the eleventh hour.
Greig McBride revealed Jack, a friend of his brother Ciaran, had been devastatingly scammed out of a ticket for the match. Upon hearing this, John offered his spare $1,200 (£893) ticket to Jack for free despite having been looking to sell it.
The act of kindness prompted Greig to launch a GoFundMe page in response, which raised around £2,700 – £900 of which will be returned to John. The rest of the money, £1,700 after fees, has now been donated to Craig Ferguson’s charity drive for Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH).
View 3 ImagesJack got a ticket to the Scotland-Haiti game from kind-hearted John MacLean
The Scotland superfan embarked on a 3,000-mile Tartan Trek across America in a kilt in February to raise money for men’s mental health. He reached Boston on June 12, in time for the Haiti game, raising over £1 million for SAMH.
Speaking about the donation, Greig said: “After starting the GoFundMe to get him some money back for the ticket and it totally took off, I spoke to John. Because the money went way over the target, he suggested we donate the rest, £1700, to SAMH and Craig Ferguson’s appeal.
“It was all John’s idea. He’s so selfless.
View 3 ImagesCraig Ferguson arriving in Boston(Image: Tony Nicoletti/Daily Record)
“It all started to get him some recognition for his act of kindness through the power of social media but I never thought it would raise as much as it has. The story has touched so many and got behind him.
“He didn’t want to see a fan go home being scammed and without seeing Scotland play at the World Cup and now he’s helping even more people. I couldn’t believe his generosity, it was incredible.”
John, originally from Stirling, travelled from Portland, Oregon, where he lives with wife, Jodie, 63, to Boston for the game on June 14. He told the Record: “My wife and I were looking at how much was coming in on the GoFundMe.
“It was clear that it was going well past what we paid for the ticket and it didn’t feel right to take any more money than the value of it. It wouldn’t have been in the spirit of why people were donating.
“We had read the stories and watched the videos of Craig Ferguson doing his walk for SAMH and it was brilliant. We thought it would be a great cause to add the extra money to. We haven’t spoken to Craig but we were moved by what he did.
“We were so overwhelmed by the donations and lovely messages. We never expected any of this, we just thought we were doing something to help a boy in need who had been scammed. It just exploded overnight. The amount of people who donated and gave so much was phenomenal.
“At the time, it was all about not wanting Jack to go back to Scotland with his whole experience of America just of being scammed, but now it’s going to help even more people.
“It was crazy to see that every comment was positive. We have never seen anything like that.
“It’s great that we could help Jack, and the money raised is going to support a good charity in Scotland.”
Article continues below
Get more Daily Record exclusives by signing up for free to Google’s preferred sources. Click HERE.