The man was homeless till he found a piano on the roads and his life changed

Sarasota (Florida), Oct 29: Some tales in life are so inspiring that a read-through gives one worth a lesson of optimism. And here is a story of Donald Gould, a homeless veteran who struggled with addiction after losing his wife but the talented pianist in him brought the man back into the headlines. Today, he has earned a reputation that he himself fathoms in disbelief.

It all happened when Gould, now in his 50s, got to play a piano after the city of Sarasota decided to place seven of them around hoping people would play them. The move resulted in one of the best comebacks in human history.

Gould, who had gone homeless, played one of those pianos located on the streets and his talent made such an emphatic remark that he turned into a sensation for the world to discover and it happened overnight. Life became more forgiving for the man as he not only made his name in music but even found a new love. What was even more unique is that Donald's young son Donnie revealed later that he did not know his father was such a gifted pianist.

Gould had once aspired to become a music teacher and even studied music education at Spring Arbor University in Michigan, his native, a report in ABC News said. The man, in fact, is an instrument maniac as he can play each one of them - "from the piccolo down to the tuba".

But life was no more the same when Gould's wife died in 1998 as he lost control of it. He turned addicted and even lost control of his three-year-old son.

Then he got an access to that piano on the road and the world got to know about a talent which till then was sleeping under the stars. The video of the man, who looked untidy giving a clear impression that he lost everything in his life, playing beautiful tunes in the piano saw several people coming forward to help him get back to a normal life. His video on Youtube got massive footfalls and good funds were raised for his welfare.

Sabine Pérez, a woman in Germany, saw Gould's video and reached out to him.

"I have a handicapped son which sometimes can be really aggressive and so I played Donald's music to him and he instantly calmed down. That was pretty amazing to see. So I wrote Donald a message just to tell him what his music did to my boy and tell him thank you also. I never expected him to answer me back-but about seven months later he did! That was the beginning of a wonderful story which still continues," Pérez, who is now Gould's partner, wrote, as reported by ABC7.