A selfless Scotland supporter who gave away a £900 World Cup ticket for free to a young fan who had been scammed says he didn't want his fellow Scot's memory of the tournament to be 'ruined' by a heartless fraud.
John MacLean, 63, who has lived in the US for 26 years, handed over a prized ticket for Scotland's opening World Cup clash against Haiti after hearing of a young supporter who was duped at the eleventh hour.
John's kindness came after he bumped into Greig McBride, 34, from Kirkintilloch, in a bar in Foxborough who revealed his brother Ciaran's friend, 23, Jack Rundell, had been devastatingly scammed out of a ticket for the match.
John had paid $1,200 (£893) for the ticket and was looking to sell it before kick-off. But after hearing about Jack's plight, he stepped in and, instead of recouping the money he paid for the sought-after brief, offered it to Jack for free.
The act prompted Greig to launch a GoFundMe page which has raised nearly £2,000 - £900 of which will return to John, and the rest he is donating to Craig Ferguson's charity drive for Scottish Action for Mental Health (SAMH).
John, originally from Stirling, said: 'It took me 30 seconds to decide to give him the ticket for free. I didn't want a kid coming all the way to the US and his only memory to be getting scammed and missing the game.'
'We didn't expect anything in return, we just wanted him to have a great time. Jack and his friends offered to chip in to give us our money back, but we refused. Since the fundraiser, my wife Jodie's Instagram has been on fire.'
'The fundraiser has raised way more than the cost of the ticket so we're giving it to Craig Ferguson's charity drive. We want to give the rest of the money to folks who need it more than us.'
John travelled from Portland, Oregon, where he lives with wife Jodie, 63, with three tickets for the Haiti game, one of which he was planning on selling, when Greg told him Jack had paid £500 only for the faux seller to blank him.
The couple are staying in Boston for the Morocco game on Friday before heading to Miami for the Brazil match. They are keeping in contact with Greig and Jack in the hopes of reuniting with them at some point along the way.
John said: 'The last game I was at was the '98 qualifiers so I'm enjoying every minute. Every bar has been full of Scots and the reception has been amazing. Everyone is so happy to see us.'
Greig added: 'I felt bad for Jack but John's generosity was absolutely incredible. He has been so kind to a complete stranger who was out of pocket. I wanted to give him some recognition.'
