Featured Image Credit: Charles Sykes/Bravo/NBCU Photo Bank via Getty Images/Brother Orange/Matt Stopera
There is a bizarre story behind a stolen iPhone that led to an unlikely friendship across the world.
It all began when a journalist named Matt Stopera had his iPhone stolen from him back in 2015 after losing it in a bar in New York City.
Using Find My iPhone, Stopera quickly realized that there was no hope of getting back his device as it went international so he replaced it with a new iPhone.
Advert
But that’s where things started to get weird.
Logging into his new phone using his Apple ID, Stopera began to notice unusual photos appearing in his camera roll.
In an article he wrote for BuzzFeed, Stopera said: “I posted those mysterious photos in an article called “Who Is This Man And Why Are His Photos Showing Up On My Phone,” and then things got really strange.
“The Chinese internet found the found the story and found that man, affectionately naming him 'Brother Orange'."
Stopera connected with Brother Orange on Weibo, which is basically Chinese Twitter, and the internet fell in love with the pair, and ‘demanded’ that the two meet in person.
So, Stopera did just that - he boarded a flight to Brother Orange’s hometown Meizhou, located in southern China and came face-to-face for the first time with the man who now had his stolen phone.
And even more bizarrely, for their first meeting they were surrounded by fans and paparazzi.
Stopera said: “We were riding around in cars with our faces on it.
“And millions of people across China watched me take a mud bath with a man I had JUST met. It was wild.”
Stopera and Brother Orange became fast friends and they also ended up being unlikely celebrities in China, even taking a selfie in front of the orange tree that started everything.
He went on to say that the man ‘unexpectedly changed my life’.
Saying goodbye at the airport as Stopera headed home, he said: “In the past, I would have said this is the end. I know now from what has happened to me that you never know what's going to happen.
“Who would have ever thought a stolen iPhone would have led to such an INSANE story and a true cross-cultural friendship? I CAN'T STOP SAYING: THIS IS INSANE.”
He added: “I know I will see Bro again. This isn't it. It's destiny. I now believe in fate.”
The incredible story has now been turned into a documentary titled Brother Orange that will soon be available to watch on Apple TV.
