EXCLUSIVE Heartbreaking past of homeless man whose sleeping bag was soaked at McDonald’s: How the ‘born heroin addict’ says he was given up by a drug abusing mother and a criminal father he’s never met – and has lived on the streets for eight years

• Aaron McCarthy, 25, has now spoken out about his heartbreaking past

A homeless man whose sleeping bag was soaked with dirty water and ‘bleach’ by a McDonald’s security guard says he was given up by parents who were addicts and has lived on the streets for eight years. 

Footage emerged of Aaron McCarthy sitting outside a Nationwide bank branch next door to the McDonald’s on Victoria Street, London, on Saturday night when he was asked to move away by guards employed by the fast food chain.

The shocking video uploaded to social media shows one of them splashing water over the ground with a mop next to where the 25-year-old was sitting, prompting furious backlash from passers-by and Aaron saying it left him feeling ‘like I was no one’. 

Now Aaron has shared his heartbreaking past with MailOnline, revealing he doesn’t know his real parents and has been on the streets since he was 17. 

Describing his life as ‘f****** hard’, he said he has been stabbed, had bricks smashed over his head and been mugged as he slept.

‘I was born a heroin addict,’ he said. ‘My mum and my dad were addicts. My dad was in jail. I don’t know my real parents. I met my real mum once when I was 18. I’ve never met my dad. I don’t know him.

‘My adopted mother lives in Wales. I realise [now] why she has had to take a step back [from being in a close relationship with me] because I have severe ADHD, post-traumatic distress disorder, borderline personality disorder.

Aaron was sitting outside a Nationwide bank branch next door to the McDonald’s on Victoria Street, London , on Saturday night

‘She never knew this when she adopted me. So she did not know I was going to grow up the way I am now.

‘But it’s tough living on the streets. But to be abused like I was by that security guard was not on. He did not have to do that.’

Aaron said he could not sleep because of the because of the ‘stressful’ situation, which impacted his mental health and left his bedding sodden and smelling of bleach.

He revealed he will be sleeping on the streets at Christmas as he says he has nowhere to stay and ‘no one’ is offering him help.

He told how he has been living on the streets of London since he left his adopted mother’s home in Wales when he was 17. 

Footage shared to social media shows a man in a high-viz jacket wetting the area where Aaron was camped out 

McDonald’s has since apologised for the incident that emerged on X today and said the workers, employed via a third party, have already been removed from the restaurant

The 25-year-old’s sleeping bag was soaked with dirty water and ‘bleach’ by a McDonald’s security guard

He said of the incident on Saturday night: ‘It made me feel like I was no one, nothing.

‘What happened has really affected my mental health. It has made my PTSD go off again and made my ADHD get worse.

‘There was no reason for that security guard to throw water on my sleeping bag.

‘I told him that I was not outside McDonald’s and that the private Victoria security [who control the pavement area around Victoria station] said it was ok.’

Aaron, originally from Limerick survives thanks to his close-knit friendship with other homeless people, particularly his girlfriend ‘Chel’.

‘Everyone seems to think that people on the streets are drug addicts. But I’m not. I don’t chose to be here. I’ve asked and asked and asked for help but it seems like no one wants to know. I need help and I don’t get help.’ 

Speaking earlier from his still-sodden sleeping bag, Aaron, told The Sun: ‘They do it on purpose to keep homeless people away but they mop this bit which isn’t even their business. They can’t be doing that. 

‘I couldn’t even sleep that night because my stuff was soaked. Some of it is still damp now. That water had bleach in it. It was cold water and it’s winter. I could’ve died.’

Recalling Saturday night’s incident from his still-sodden sleeping bag, Aaron said: ‘They do it on purpose to keep homeless people away but they mop this bit which isn’t even their business’

Aaron, who called the security guard ‘heartless’, said he has PTSD and has slept rough since he was 18. 

He said he receives a £700 per month Personal Independence Payment and recently had his Universal Credit reduced. The Irishman said he had ended up on the streets due to his mental health issues and had struggled to find housing. 

Aaron, who has been living around the Victoria area for the past few years, spoke earlier to the Telegraph. 

READ MORE: McDonald’s bosses SACK security guard after he was filmed deliberately soaking a homeless man and his sleeping bag with a mop and bucket as furious onlookers called for him to stop

Referring to the security guard, he said: ‘I told them I was outside the bank, not McDonald’s and so I had nothing to do with them but then one of them came out with a bucket of water with bleach in it, I could smell it.

‘The guy started mopping the floor and kicking my stuff into the water. It was disgusting.

‘I had to leave because it was so stressful, and I hardly slept the entire night because my bedding was all soaked. You can still smell the bleach on my blanket.’

Footage shared to social media shows the security guard wetting the area where Aaron had been camped out. 

He is heard saying ‘leave me alone’ as his belongings are kicked out of the way. 

Bystanders can be heard describing the situation as ‘outrageous’ and ‘bang out of order’. 

As the scene gets increasingly hostile, a security guard can be seen coming out of the restaurant, asking Aaron: ‘Why you causing trouble?’

But the crowd is quick to leap to his defence, with the man filming insisting: ‘What do you mean causing trouble? 

‘The guy’s just covered his sleeping bag in water. It’s winter! That is outrageous.’ 

Damon Evans, who posted the footage on X, tagged McDonald’s and asked: ‘Do you think it is acceptable for your staff to soak the sleeping bags of homeless people in the middle of winter (or any other time of the year)?

‘Disgusting behaviour. He wasn’t even outside your premises.’

McDonald’s said it was ‘shocked and saddened’ after the incident and has since permanently removed the ‘third party security guards’ from its restaurants

McDonald’s has said it is ‘shocked and saddened’ by the incident and has permanently removed the ‘third party security guards’ from its restaurant.

A spokesperson told MailOnline: ‘We are shocked and saddened by this incident. 

‘The third party security guards involved have been permanently removed from our restaurants and the restaurant team has been reminded of the importance of treating all people with respect including vulnerable people both in the restaurant and within the wider community.

‘We would like to wholeheartedly apologise to the gentleman in the video and will work with the council to locate him and make amends, as part of our continued support for homelessness charities and organisations across London.’

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