- Joined
- Aug 18, 2002
- Messages
- 19,408
Its good to see he is finally sorting his life out
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/3547065/detail.html
Man In 'Bumfights' Video Turns Life Around
Daughter Contacts Father After Learning Of 'Bumfights' Video
POSTED: 11:03 am PDT July 19, 2004
UPDATED: 11:19 am PDT July 19, 2004
SAN DIEGO -- A homeless man who was featured in the "Bumfights" underground shock video says he has begun to turn his life around after publicity from the video prompted his estranged daughter to find him.
Rufus Hannah, (pictured, left) who was dubbed "Rufus the Stunt Bum" in the video, said his daughter wrote to him and said "I can't believe you are living like this." She also informed Hannah that he was now a grandfather. The letter motivated him to stop drinking.
"I couldn't stand it anymore. I couldn't believe what I was doing," Hannah said, adding that he hasn't had a drink in 20 months.
Last week, Hannah, 49, served as a volunteer leader during "Stand Down," an annual event in San Diego to help homeless veterans find services such as counseling and medical treatment.
"Bumfights" was filmed mostly in San Diego and was sold over the Internet for a copy.
Hannah was filmed barreling down a flight of stairs in a shopping cart, ramming his head into a wall, and punching another homeless man in the face.
Hannah said the young men who made the video gave him alcohol and money to perform. They had the letters spelling "Bumfight" tattooed onto his fingers.
Homeless advocates decried the videotapes as exploitive and demeaning. The young men who made the tape were charged with battery and soliciting a felony. They pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor charge of staging an illegal fight and were ordered to perform 280 hours of community service.
"They're pretty sick kids," Hannah said.
A civil case brought by Hannah and another man, Donald Brennan, is unresolved.
http://www.thesandiegochannel.com/news/3547065/detail.html