Update: Kindness strikes back after Jason Vanporppal loses R25 000

Skateboarder Jason Vanporppal, who claimed he was scammed out of R25 000 meant for Uganda’s first public skatepark, has received an anonymous donation covering the exact amount he lost.

In a video posted to Instagram, Vanporppal said he opened the GoFundMe page for the skatepark and found someone had anonymously donated $1 500, the dollar equivalent of the R25 000 he says was taken from him.

‘Someone was nice enough to donate the same amount of money that was originally supposed to be in the GoFundMe,’ he said, adding that the campaign is now close to its $50 000 target.

He said the gesture came at a low point in his week and restored some of his faith in the fundraising drive. ‘I’ve been feeling down this past week, and having someone donate 1 500 towards this cause, it just shows there’s faith in humanity,’ he said.

He thanked everyone who had contributed to the campaign and said he plans to document how the funds are used once they are transferred to the team in Kampala for the land purchase.

Jason Vanporppal says he is pursuing legal action against alleged scammer

In a separate video update, Vanporppal said the woman he accuses of taking the money, whom he identified only by the first name Haley, has blocked him on Facebook and WhatsApp and continues to deny wrongdoing. He said he had gathered information about her over several days of his own research but would not publish it, saying he did not want to jeopardise a legal case he intends to pursue.

Footage he shared showed part of a late-night phone call in which he urged the woman to return the funds. ‘You’ve got to return this money, Haley,’ he said, to which she replied that the payment would be made and that she would send proof once it reflected in the recipient’s account.

Vanporppal said the money had not been returned as of the video’s posting and that he intends to pursue the matter through legal channels rather than name the woman publicly.