Sunshine Coast university student Tommy Connolly was enjoying the life of any other 23-year-old when he contacted a cousin he’d lost contact with on Facebook.

What happened next is nothing short of extraordinary.

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The young athletics star discovered his 17-year-old cousin was homeless, illiterate, 32-weeks-pregnant and living rough on the Gold Coast.

He decided to take her in immediately.

“I went and picked her up and she basically started telling me about her situation, which was hard for me to hear because she was my favourite little cousin when I was growing up,” Mr Connolly told Daily Mail Australia.

Tommy Connolly, 23, with his cousin’s new baby. Photo: supplied

“Basically she was living on the streets, she became addicted to ice and was doing terrible things to get by. She didn’t have anything.”

He said he didn’t think twice about taking her in, and helped her with the final stages of her pregnancy before she gave birth.

“Obviously I’m not going to let her stay on the streets.

“Everyone likes to tell me this is such a big responsibility, but I wasn’t thinking about uni or work or anything, all I was doing was thinking that she needed me.”

The aspiring athlete put his training for the Commonwealth Games on hold and began working full time to help cover the cost of buying items for the baby boy.

“Angela does 90 per cent of the work – and if it’s one or two years of my life I have to put on hold to make sure two lives are going to be saved it’s nothing at all,” he said.

Mr Connolly’s older brother has started a crowdfunding campaign to help Tommy support his cousin, which has already attracted $18,000 in donations.

“What an amazing person. The world needs more like you,” one donator wrote.