Robert Denton, NS cartoonist, soon to return from UK thanks to high-profile pals

HALIFAX – A disabled Nova Scotia man who’s stuck in the United Kingdom is hoping an online fund raising campaign will help him come back across the pond.

Robert Denton is a cartoonist who moved to England with his wife two years ago. He suffers from severe disabilities because of a degenerative neurological disease and diabetes. However, he’s still able to draw his cartoons.

His condition has been worsening over time, and he doesn’t quality for financial or social assistance in the United Kingdom.

“Unfortunately, our circumstances changed dramatically enough that we just simply cannot financially survive here anymore.  And, we have no way to get home,” he said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "Unfortunately, our circumstances changed dramatically enough that we just simply cannot financially survive here anymore.  And, we have no way to get home," he said.

“(I want to) come home to live in Canada, because I am Canadian.”

Because of that, a group of his well-known Nova Scotian friends are banding together to try to get him home.

Entertainer Jonathan Torrens and MP Bill Casey are hunting for supporters to donate Aeroplan points online so Denton and his wife can fly home.

“It’s just something that came up and we had a way to do it,” Casey said.

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "It's just something that came up and we had a way to do it," Casey said.

“Once we got it set up we got it very quickly.”

By Monday morning, they’d collected more than 200,000 points. Casey was hoping for 100,000, so the organizers think they’ve got enough to get the couple back to the province.

“There are so many people that I never would have known or thought that they would even remember me or care about me,” Denton told Global News over Skype on Monday.

The points were all raised in less than 24 hours, Casey and Torrens said.

For Denton, seeing how many people are coming together to help his cause is encouraging and heartwarming.

“I am absolutely blown away. People have come out of the woodwork as far away as elementary school.”

Tweet This Click to share quote on Twitter: "I am absolutely blown away. People have come out of the woodwork as far away as elementary school."

“There are so many people that I never would have known or thought that they would even remember me or care about me.”

Casey and Torrens are also welcoming other donations to cover costs like tax on the flights and special equipment that Denton will need when he and his wife get back.