A man sent an antique tin can stuffed with cash to a complete stranger thousands of miles away after being moved by her plight online.
Robert Cook decided to spread some Christmas cheer after discovering a tin-can collector based in North Carolina was selling her haul after falling on hard times.
Grace O’Malley, 53, had amassed 500 vintage cans after starting her collection aged eight.
However, Robert, of Turiff, Aberdeenshire, proved he’s a real life tin man with a heart after sending an antique tin to her home 4000 miles away packed with cash.
Robert, 29, sent her a collectible Player’s tobacco tin from the 1900s with 50 dollars stuffed inside.
His kindly act was so unexpected it brought Grace to tears.
Grace had been unemployed since June and felt everything she’d worked hard for in her life was “circling the drain”.
Her spirit was almost completely crushed when she was offered a job only to get a call within days to tell her the company had changed its mind.
She said: “My husband and I had already decided not to unpack any of our Christmas decorations and we have no money to buy gifts or send cards, so the holiday depression has really hit us both hard.
“His gift was a much-needed reminder that Christmas isn’t about sending cards, giving presents or decorating. It is about giving from the heart to your fellow man and it was a message that I needed to hear.
“We were able to treat ourselves to some groceries and we didn’t squander a dime of what he sent.”
And it isn’t Robert’s first act of kindness this Christmas as he revealed he also sent a Postman Pat toy to a couple in America who couldn’t afford it.
Modest Robert, said: “You have to take these opportunities to help people where you can.”
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