When business student Andrej Djidrovski injured his foot about a week ago, one of his first concerns was for his dog.
The Abu Dhabi resident, 20, lives alone as his family is in Europe. Considering that his Shiba Inu, Mimi, needs to go out at least twice a day, he quickly grew worried.
“I jumped on broken glass that lacerated the bottom of my left foot, which required stitches," he said.
"With the injury, I was not allowed to sweat, which meant I couldn’t have any physical activity or go outside. This is very hard for me as sports were a big part of my daily routine.
"More importantly, walking my dog became impossible as I cannot hold on to the leash while on crutches," he told The National.
Djidrovski started using TikTok about four months ago, and has racked up a following (he posts under the handle @somuchandrej and has nearly 88,000 followers).
Mimi also features in a number of his posts. So, after he was injured, it was only natural for him to describe his situation to strangers on the app, and ask if anyone would be able to help him walk his dog for a few days.
“I expected some response as I had a few followers from Abu Dhabi and the UAE in general, but this was something else,” he says. “Just a few hours after posting the video, I realised that more than 200,000 people had watched it and more than 1,000 offered to help. I was genuinely amazed and thankful.”
As it turned out, a woman living in his very building chanced upon the video and offered to walk the dog on the day. “She was one of the seven amazing people who walked my dog after finding the video on TikTok,” Djidrovski says.
Djidrovski expects to be back on his feet by next week but in the meantime, he thanks public-spirited residents like Hanya Elgohary, Anastasia Makarycheva and Rashed and Yasmine Al Shamsi who have been helping walk Mimi. He says there are more volunteering on a daily basis.
“Abu Dhabi and the UAE’s TikTok community is amazing,” he adds. “When I saw all the comments and private messages from people who don’t know me yet still offered help, I realised that Abu Dhabi’s community is the best. I am lucky to live in such an amazing city and country full of kind and caring residents.
“I would like say a big thank you to everyone for helping me walk the dog as well as every single person who messaged me and kindly offered help. This experience made me heal faster."
