A global pandemic, rocky economies, devastating news left and right… one can’t be blamed for losing hope in humanity altogether. After all, what else is there to be optimistic about when good news seems so difficult to come by? Before you let the troubles of this world convince you that there’s no way things are going to start looking up, check out this heartwarming story of a gas attendant who readily stepped in to help a total stranger.

It happened in Cape Town, South Africa as Monet van Deventer got stranded on a highway without gas or money.

It was right before loading fuel in her car that she realized she forgot her card and she had no money with her.

To her amazement, the attendant, Nkosikho Mbele didn’t just express sympathy and understanding – he also made an offer that left her in disbelief: to pay her gas bill amounting to about hundred rands just so she could safely travel across the highway.

Recounting the incident, van Deventer shared,

“I had this strange feeling that I forgot my card. I then started looking for it, and while I was searching, Nkosikho started washing my windows.”

She then tried to explain that the window washing was necessary since she wouldn’t be able to pay anyway.

“I said to him, thanks for washing my windows but I can’t put petrol in today. He seemed stressed and shocked because he was looking at my fuel needle which was already in the red.”

The concerned attendant responded by taking his own card, going up to the register, and paying for the gas.

van Deventer added,

“He said to me, ‘Ma’am, you can’t run out of petrol on the N2’. And he said, ‘I’ll pay R100 and whenever you are near again you can just give me back my R100’.”

Then he proceeded to fill up her gas tank.

The grateful yet surprised woman initially assumed it was a generous service offered by the gas company but she realized it was a personal transaction, a kind, thoughtful gesture extended by one stranger towards another. The bill amounted to almost as much as what the gas attendant made in a day but he did not think twice about jumping to her aid by covering her bill and making sure she had enough to travel.

While he didn’t have enough assurance that the woman was indeed going to pay him back, he was more concerned for her safety – so he still went ahead with the transaction. Describing how it happened, Mbele narrated,

“I asked her how low is the fuel, and she said it was low. I asked her, ‘Will you make it?’, and she said: ‘I’m not sure.’ I said let me just do this for you.”

Thankfully, the grateful woman returned a few days later to return the money, along with a box of chocolates as a token of appreciation. Mbele added,

“I was so grateful that she came back. I could see in her eyes that she appreciated my help, you know when someone sees that you have done something for them. I could see it in her eyes that she really appreciated that I had done something for her.”

As if that wasn’t enough, the unknowing gas attendant’s good deed had also already gone viral, thanks to van Deventer’s Facebook post about the incident.

Not only that, she also started a fundraiser for him which turned out to be a huge success.

Raising more than enough to cover about eight years of the gas attendant’s salary, the fundraiser was closed with almost $94,000.

Moreover, Mbele was also nominated for the Regional Service Excellence Award.

The gas attendant’s selfless act created an amazing ripple that even Chairman Hloniphizwe Mtole decided to jump in, telling Mbele,

“I’ve seen the good news and wanted to call and congratulate you for the good work you have done. We have decided to respond to what the public has done and donate half a million rand to a charity that you will choose.”

Mbele didn’t just get his money back and the respect of van Deventer and many others – he was also able to help more people, thanks to a simple yet impactful act that ended up inspiring those who heard of his story.

Watch the video below!

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Source: YouTube – News24, Times Live, Facebook – Monet van Deventer