Jane Sayner thought she would have to work until her 80s. As someone who just survived cancer and lived alone, Sayner knew she had to work her bones so she could pay rent. Everything changed, however, when her landlord died. And when she received a call that fateful day that the landlord died, she couldn’t believe what friendship has given her.
Sayner was a long-time renter, and now, she doesn’t have to. When his landlord John Perrett’s health was deteriorating, Sayner was anxious about the future. She has been paying rent since 1998 and she knew she couldn’t afford rent anywhere else if Perrett pass away. She shared with the local news stations that the multimillionaire has always insisted that all of his money and properties would go to charity.
Little did she know, she was included among the beneficiaries. Sayner described Perret as a great landlord. Besides always playing with the thought of putting all of his money into charity, he has always been a very attentive landlord. If anything was broken or needed fixing, Perret would send people right away.
He also takes time to get to know his tenants, especially Sayner. In return, Sayner did her best to be a great tenant. Sayner said that she never missed rent for the whole time she was renting. Sayner also shared that Perret was an old-school businessman. He makes sure to drop by his properties once a month to collect rent in person. This is where Perrett and Sayner started interacting.
The two would often talk for an hour or so, talking about their families, his career as a chemist, and anything under the sun. She shared that Perrett appreciated her efforts of taking care of the house. Sayner even shared the time Perrett helped her in gardening.
“I treated this place like it was my own. When I first came here there was no garden out the back. Because I was living here, I planted lots of plants and flowers, which are still here today,” She said, as quoted by the Daily Mail.
In return, Perrett brought over some big pots that his father had but didn’t use. He hoped she could bring life to the pots as well. Their contact sharply diminished two years before his death. Perrett stayed in a care facility that became greatly isolated when the pandemic hit. One day, Sayner received a call from him.
‘Then one day he just rang me and said, “My solicitor’s here, can you please give me your full name, because I’m leaving you your unit,” she shared to Daily Mail. He passed on, leaving behind 18 million to a hospital, another home to a long-term tenant, and some money to staff who worked with him through the years.
Perrett just proved how true ancient wisdom truly was. At the end of the road, none of us can ever carry riches to the next life. So what’s a better way to leave it behind than to give it to people who made our stay worthwhile? It might be the lease on life they’ve been waiting for. Sayner, a cancer survivor, doesn’t have to worry about rent and can live her life comfortably for the days to come. Watch how a landlord changed a tenant’s life through a final act of kindness.
