An Alberta man who was living on the streets is getting a second chance at life after finding an antique print from Disney鈥檚 1942 film 鈥淏ambi鈥� in a dumpster.
This Christmas season, Adam Gillan is in Ontario and is looking forward to the next phase of his life.
He told CTV London, he鈥檚 鈥渏ust relaxing for the Christmas holidays and then, soon as the new year comes, I'll have a good, positive solid goal."
Being surrounded by family is a far cry from his life three weeks ago when he was in Edmonton scouring a dumpster looking for things he could hock.
In a fortunate twist of fate, he stumbled upon an animation cell from 鈥淏ambi,鈥� which was part of the Walt Disney鈥檚 first wave of classic animated movies.
At the time, Gillan had no idea how valuable the print was and sold it to Curiosity Inc. antiques store owner Alex Archibald for only $20.
It was only after getting it appraised that Archibald discovered it was worth much more than that.
Once he found out that it was worth $3,600, he tracked Gillan down and split the proceeds with him.
He shared about $1,600 from the sold 鈥淏ambi鈥� cell and then heard about Gillan鈥檚 desire to return to London to be with his family. So Archibald raised about $18,000 through a to get Gillan there.
"They showed that there's a lot of people out there that care,鈥� Gillan said, thanking the hundreds of donors.
Since Tuesday, he has been staying with long-time friend Jessika Lang, with whom he shares a 19-year-old son.
Lang said that despite never having met the antiques owner herself, she is thankful for his help.
"I haven't met Alex and I love him鈥� she told CTV London. 鈥淚 think that he did something far more than money. And that it's that he re-ignited hope."
Their son Gavin said he鈥檚 looking forward to reconnecting with his father over the holidays and has loved 鈥渃hilling together鈥� with him so far.
Gillan has three younger children from another relationship, who currently live with his mother in Goderich, Ont. He said he鈥檚 planning to reunite with them next week.
He does admit he鈥檚 struggled with addiction but said he鈥檚 determined to remain clean and maybe find a new career path.
"Possibly get into [selling] antiques. Maybe buying, selling. Start small,鈥� Gillan said.
With a report from CTV London鈥檚 Gerry Dewan
