Syrian refugee Mohammed Al Saleh raises $30K to bring family to B.C.

A Syrian man who arrived in B.C. as a government-assisted refugee last year has fundraised$30,000 to bring his familyto Canada.

Mohammed AlSaleh, 26, has had a difficult journey.He says he was detained and tortured for weeks in Syriabefore coming to Canada as a refugee.

"I just wanted to get the hell out of there. I didn't want to spend one more minute in that country," he said.

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When he fled, he left behind hismother and younger siblings.As soon as he arrived in Canada,AlSalehgot to worktrying to figure out how to help his family escape and join him in New Westminster.

AlSalehthought it would be years before he would be able to save enough money to bring them over as privately sponsored refugees.

But thanks to the generosity of some friendly Canadians, the family reunion is happening a lot sooner.

'That just didn't cut it'

The help came first from Deana Brynildsen, a retired Foreign Affairs employee, who read about Al Saleh's plight in a local paper.

"He said he was going to finish thecourse he was taking and then get a job, work really hard, save his money and bringhis family over in five, six, sevenyears but that just didn't cut itfor me," saidBrynildsen.

She put together a GoFundMe page to raise enough money to support Al Saleh's family financially for their first year in Canada.

Over the first couple of weeks of the campaign, Al Saleh andBrynildsen raised about $18,000. Then came even more good news.

'He's such an amazing person'

Good Samaritans NealeGenereuxand KellyShkuratofffound AlSaleh's story online. They were so moved by his plight,they chipped in the rest of the money he needed to reach his goalclose to$12,000.

"His mom's a teacher and his sister was starting engineering, and our family isalmostentirely teachers and engineers. We're engineers ourselves. The family just resonated for us," saidShkuratoff.

The couple says they're looking forward togettingto know Al Saleh and his family better.

"He's such an amazing person, we hope to spend some time with him while he's going through this process," said Neale Genereux.

AlSalehsays he still has to fill out the paperwork to privately sponsor his family, but hopes to bring them to Canada as early as next year.

"This is something phenomenal! I couldn't think of a better word," said AlSaleh.