Heartwarming moment homeless man is reunited with his family 13 years after they lost touch after TikTok campaign to track his loved ones down
The power of social media has reunited a homeless man with his family in Mexico after thirteen years.
The heartwarming moment went viral on TikTok on Tuesday when Jorge Pineda, 54, hugged his sister, Beatriz Pineda, outside the abandoned property in the northeastern city of Monterrey where he had taken refuge.
The reunion took place on Sunday and was made possible thanks to André Hernández, who on April 5 uploaded his own video of the barefoot man gushing at the sight of his Ford Mustang.
Jorge admired the sports car in the TikTok video that has been viewed more than 15 million times.
Hernandez took Jorge for a ride in the car — and the video of that trip went viral and helped Jorge’s family recognize and reconnect with him.
Jorge Pineda went viral after a TikTok video recently captured him admiring a Ford Mustang in a parking lot in Monterrey, Mexico. The video was crucial in reuniting the homeless man with his family, whom he had not seen in thirteen years
Jorge Pineda (left) saw his sister Beatriz Pineda (right) on Sunday for the first time since 2011. The reunion was made possible thanks to a TikTok video posted by Andrés Hernández, in which Jorge stared at his Ford Mustang, and another in which Jorge enjoyed a ride
Hernández told news channel Info 7 that a colleague warned him that a homeless man was standing next to his car and advised him to find another spot in the parking lot.
Instead, he decided to leave the car where it was parked and later approached Pineda and took him for a ride around town – the video clip was viewed more than 3.6 million times.
Hernández’s followers were moved by the video and contributed money to help Pineda eat and buy a new mattress and get a total makeover – which the homeless man was initially against.
The viral content eventually caught the attention of Beatriz, who contacted Hernández after noticing her brother, whom she last saw in 2011.
Jorge Pineda stood next to the Ford Mustang and admired it. It was all captured on video and shared on TikTok, going viral and helping the homeless man reunite with his family
Andrés Hernández (left) with Jorge Pineda
Beatriz Pineda and her brother, Jorge Pineda, share a moment outside the abandoned property he called home in Monterrey, Mexico
Jorge Pineda had narcotics problems in the United States and was deported to Mexico
Beatriz managed to get the money and made the 11-hour drive from her home in Ameca, a city in the western state of Jalisco, to Monterrey to reunite with Jorge.
Jorge lived in the United States for some time before problems with narcotics led to his deportation to Mexico, Beatriz told the station.
He found work at a chocolate factory in the town of Rino in Jalisco and later suffered an accident that separated him from his family.
“I saw the videos and I cried,” Beatriz said, as quoted by Infobae. ‘He’s very quiet. When people see them alive, they always reject them.”
Jorge has now returned to his sister in Ameca and is looking forward to new opportunities.