The power of social media has reunited a homeless man with his family in Mexico after 13 years.
The touching 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 she had sought refuge.
The reunification occurred on Sunday and was made possible by André Hernández, who on April 5 uploaded his own video of the barefoot man excited to see his Ford Mustang.
Jorge could be seen admiring the sports car in the TikTok video which has been viewed more than 15 million times.
Hernández took Jorge for a ride in the car, and the video of that trip went viral and helped Jorge’s family recognize him and get back in touch.
Jorge Pineda went viral after a TikTok video captured him admiring a Ford Mustang in a parking lot in Monterrey, Mexico, recently. The video was instrumental in reuniting the homeless man with his family, whom he had not seen in 13 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 that showed Jorge looking at his Ford Mustang and another in the that Jorge enjoyed a walk
Hernandez told news channel Info 7 that a co-worker alerted him that a homeless man was standing near 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 then approached Pineda and took him for a ride around the city: the video clip has more than 3.6 million views.
Hernández’s followers were moved by the video and contributed funds to help Pineda buy food, a new mattress and a total makeover, to which the homeless man initially opposed.
The viral content eventually caught the attention of Beatriz, who reached out to 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 problems with narcotics in the United States and was deported to Mexico
Beatriz was able to get the money and made the 11-hour trip from her home in Ameca, a city in the western state of Jalisco, to Monterrey to meet Jorge.
Jorge lived in the United States for some time before problems with narcotics led to his deportation to Mexico, Beatriz told the network.
He found employment in a chocolate factory in the Jalisco town of Rino and later suffered an accident that led him to separate from his family.
‘I saw the videos and it caught me crying,’ said Beatriz, quoted by Infobae. ‘He is very calm. When people see them in life, they always reject them.’
Jorge has since returned to live with his sister in Ameca and looks forward to new opportunities.