WARSAW, Jan. 16 (Xinhua) -- Iranian truck driver Fardin Kazemi is getting ready to return home from Poland after over 6,000 Poles contributed to replacing his truck, which had broken down over a month ago in southern Poland.
"I love Poland, Polish people, I will always have you in my heart," 52-year-old Kazemi said upon picking up the keys to his replacement truck on Wednesday night in Radlin, southwestern Poland.
"Every day that this truck is traveling in Europe or Iran or Turkey, it will be a reminder of the help I received from the Poles," the man added. He now carries a Polish flag on the vehicle.
The truck, which he had been driving around Europe for a living, broke down in early December nearby Czestochowa in southern Poland while he made a regular delivery of raisins just like he did about 40 times before. Kazemi's wife and children are dependent on his job. Touched by the story, Polish drivers and, increasingly, others started raising money to replace the man's truck, as fixing it turned out to be time consuming and expensive.
Poles have finally collected 272,000 Polish zloty (71,500 U.S. dollars) for Kazemi. While initially Kazemi was supposed to get a DAF truck, whose seller was offering it on a huge discount, this was eventually made impossible because of the U.S. sanctions on Iran. In the end, the man's benefactors were able to buy a used Scania truck. Kazemi's old truck will be repaired and delivered to him, as he cherishes his 32-year-old vehicle so much.
