Homeless Musician’s Performance Goes Viral — and Leads to Thousands in Donations: ‘Restored My Faith’ (Exclusive)

After finding John Metcalfe busking outside of a McDonald's in Liverpool, England, Stephen Flynn learned he was living in a car with his girlfriend

After a video of a homeless musician playing guitar outside a McDonald’s drive-thru in England went viral on TikTok, a community came together to help raise money for him and his girlfriend.

Recorded from inside a car and later posted on TikTok by Stephen Flynn, the brief clip shows John Metcalfe, 59, singing Dire Straits’ “Sultans of Swing” and playing acoustic guitar on Aug. 20. As of Monday, Sept. 9, the video has generated over 11 million views — and a GoFundMe has led to nearly £6,000 (about $7,845) in donations.

"It's totally restored my faith in human nature," Metcalfe, 59, tells PEOPLE of the incredible response. "Even after all that's happened to me — having my life stolen from me — it's just restored my faith."

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For most of his life, the Liverpudlian has traveled around the world and played music. He left Liverpool when he was 28 in 1988, first heading to the Middle East and then parts of Europe. While in Spain, he was formerly married to a woman, with whom he shares two sons, who still live there.

However, his life turned upside down last October: after having lived in Norway for about five years with his girlfriend Hege, he was deported to Britain due to visa issues.

“There was a knock on the door,” Metcalfe recalls. “They gave me one hour to get what I could carry, and they put me in a jail overnight and then put me on a plane back to the U.K. the next morning. My poor girl sat there crying her eyes out. She couldn't believe it.”

When he returned to Liverpool, Metcalfe briefly stayed at his parents’ place. “My mom is very ill,” he says. “I couldn't stay there any longer. I was getting in the way, and now my father's very ill as well.”

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By this time, his girlfriend had joined him in the U.K. They temporarily stayed at a bedsit (or studio apartment), but when that arrangement didn't work out, they were forced to live in their car.

"We had a tent as well,” he says. "We were putting the tent up because we had space to lie down then. But the last few, four or five months, we had to sleep in the car itself with all that stuff. And it's a tiny car, what you call a compact.”

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Last December, Metcalfe started performing outside a Sainsbury's supermarket in Liverpool, until a car park security guard chased him away, but suggested he play at the nearby McDonald’s.

Metcalfe, whose musical repertoire included blues, jazz and country, says that busking to drivers who are waiting for the fast food leads to "more smiles" than money," but that at least "everyone seems happy."

Then on Aug. 20, Metcalfe was spotted by Liverpool resident Stephen Flynn, 43, who was riding in a car with his friends.

“On the way out, we see John playing a little song on the corner. So I said to my mate, 'Go around, I'll video,' " recalls Flynn. "I said [to John from the car], 'All right, mate, give a little tune.' And he just came out with that absolute classic.”

Later that day, Flynn uploaded the video and posted it on TikTok — and the response was massive. "It just blew up,” he says.

At the time of their initial meeting, Flynn didn’t know about Metcalfe’s life. The next day, he went back to the McDonald’s to show Metcalfe the video and the online reaction to it. But Metcalfe wasn’t there.

“I didn't know he was staying in his car,” Flynn tells PEOPLE. "It was just next to the McDonald's. So he might have been in the car when I went back, but I didn't know this."

When he went back the following day, Metcalfe was there — and Flynn says the musician was "gobsmacked" by all the "love."

As Flynn posted more videos of Metcalfe on TikTok, his sister Melissa, 37, launched a GoFundMe to help.

“Everyone was asking on the comments [section], 'Is there a GoFundMe? Is there a GoFundMe?' How can we help him?' " Melissa tells PEOPLE. "The love has been pouring into that … It’s been amazing.”

Metcalfe is looking to use the money to purchase a camper van, or even a longboat depending on how much is raised, so that he and Hege can travel around Britain and play music. He also says he wants to "meet all these nice people who've helped me and sent nice comments and invited me to go there and play.”

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Flynn shares that he just wants to see Metcalfe "have a happy life because of the stuff he's been through."

“We want to move him and his partner in. We just want to see him happy," Flynn continues. "His story pulls on your heartstrings, mate. All you want to do is help him. I can't see any other way.”

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