TEARS streamed down the face of sunken boat victim John Simmonds when he heard an anonymous man had pledged to send him a cheque for £25,000 – the total cost of repairs to his vessel.

Mr Simmonds, who has Asperger’s Syndrome, has been overwhelmed by the generosity of the public after an extraordinary number of donations flooded into the Oxford Mail newsroom yesterday.

The 35-year-old said it “had restored his faith in humanity” after he lost everything when his £60,000 boat sunk to the bottom of the Thames on Monday following what he believes was an act of sabotage.

The IT specialist said: “I want to thank the kindest person in the world for offering to donate that money to me from the deepest part of my soul.

“I will never forget the kindness they showed and one day – when I’m waking up on my repaired boat – I will think of them and thank them every day for what they’ve done.

“That money could pretty much fund the whole repair needed to my boat, which has left me in a completely different situation to Monday, when I thought I had lost everything in my life and couldn’t see a way out.”

The mystery man who pledged the large sum of money said he carried out the act of kindness in the hope it would get Mr Simmonds “back on track”.

He is one of dozens of people to contact the Oxford Mail with an offer of food, clothes, aid and money.

The anonymous man said: “I hope the money I’m giving will go some way to sorting out his terrible situation but I don’t want any praise for what I’ve done.

“I’m giving the money to John because I really feel for him. What happened to his boat is just horrible.”

Mr Simmonds said he left The Old Peculiar for only half an hour on Monday afternoon but by the time he returned he found a huge crowd of people looking at his boat, which was one of two to crash into Botley Bridge.

He first moored his boat by the bridge four years ago on land that has been the subject of dispute. The city council did not originally own the towpath next to the boat before acquiring it about two years ago, effectively making him a squatter.

Yesterday Mr Simmonds, who is currently staying with friends while the Environment Agency secure the safety of his boat, said he still believed its moorings had been tampered with.

He said: “I would like to thank everyone who has contacted the Oxford Mail with donations and to the Oxford Mail for helping me out so much after what happened on Monday.

“I’ll forever be grateful.”

If you want to donate any clothes, food, aid or cheques to John Simmonds send them to: Oxford Mail, Newspaper House, Osney Mead, Oxford, OX2 0EJ.