An 83-year-old man watched his home and everything he owned burn down

On a cold January day in 2018, an 83-year-old man named Ali Meşe tried to light the wood stove in his home in a small village in northwest Turkey.

 

Something went wrong. There was an explosion.

Within minutes, his wooden house was on fire.

Firefighters rushed in and pulled everyone out. Ali. His wife. His son.

And his little cat.

But the house couldn’t be saved. Everything Ali owned burned. Most of his chickens died in the flames.

As snow fell and firefighters worked, a photographer captured Ali standing in front of the ruins. Tears in his eyes. His cat held tight against his chest.

 

He wouldn’t let go.

The photos spread across Turkey, then around the world. People everywhere saw an old man who had lost everything, holding on to the one thing he still had.

Then help started pouring in.

The local governor personally drove Ali to the hospital to treat his injured hand. The Turkish Red Crescent brought supplies, including a brand-new carrier for his cat. When Ali was reunited with his kitten, he covered her in kisses.

Local charities and the government came together to build him a brand-new home in his village.

By the end of that year, Ali had moved in.

He wasn’t alone. He was living there with three cats, including the one he held that day