A 63-year-old veteran could barely access his backyard which overgrown with 6-8-foot weeds, until a kind-hearted cleaning company owner transformed the overgrown jungle for free—then he went above-and-beyond to transform the soldier’s life.

Ben Saunders stepped in after meeting Nick Joyce and hearing the Army veteran had been waiting for the local council to clear the tangled brush for four years.

Ben, who owns Flawless Cleaning Services, said the garden was in a “shocking” state.

“It was affecting his mental health,” said Ben, a father-of-two who lives in the Sidcup suburb of London. “I immediately thought, ‘I need to try and do something now’.”

Ben and his team spent two days last month hacking back the weeds, filling an entire dumpster outside Nick’s home in Suffolk, before replacing his side canopy, cleaning his gutters, and even building him vegetable beds.

The unrecognizable transformation was watched on YouTube by some of Ben’s 596,000 followers, so he set up a GoFundMe campaign to provide more help because the former member of the British cavalry, who has COPD, arthritis, and PTSD, had to leave his factory job in April when his car broke down.

He was also struggling to buy food because he couldn’t drive to supermarkets 12 miles away, so instead had to rely on pricier corner shops.

The video shows Ben surprising Nick with the proceeds—a big check for more than £11,000 ($14,500).

“I feel like a five-year-old kid on Christmas morning.”

“I wasn’t expecting any of it,” Nick said. “And it’s better than the lottery because it’s all done by nice people who give a hoot.”

“Nick’s a really lovely guy,” said Ben. “I feel like a friend of mine has won the lottery—it was amazing.”

Nick had lived in the property with his dog Willow for four years, but the garden had been in a sorry state since before he moved in.

“I wouldn’t have liked to have walked into that at 63 with COPD and all the conditions he’s got,” said Ben who received weed-whacking assistance from his dad and uncle.

While working on the garden, Ben realized the extent of the social isolation being faced by Nick, who enlisted in the army back in 1978 and spent five years in regular service followed by eight years as a reservist.

“They don’t have a bus route that way, and the cycle route to his job sounded impossible for a guy his age,” explained Ben. “He was just staring at the same four walls every day.”

The lack of a car was a common denominator in a lot of the problems Nick faced, so Ben decided to help fix that problem too.

“It got to the point (when I lost my car) where I felt like I got knocked down but before I could get back up, I was knocked down again.”

Determined to do something to improve Nick’s life, Ben handed him another gift on the day the garden was finished—the keys to a blue Vauxhall Corsa, which was taxed and insured for a year.

Nick was left flabbergasted.

MORE KINDNESS TRANSFORMATIONS:
• Girls Volleyball Team Buys Beloved Custodian a Car to Repay Him for All He’s Done–Watch the Texas-Sized Surprise
• Doctor Gave Free Care to Patients for Decades–Now They’ve Raised $280,000 to Pay for His Cancer Treatment
• GoFundMe for Teen Who Rushed to Work Instead of Partying After Graduation Skyrockets to $180K

Upon receiving the unexpected windfall, Nick said he plans to find another job.

“I don’t want to end up on the scrapheap,” he said. “It’s not just the money. I need a purpose.”

Ben has already found his purpose—helping vulnerable people through his company’s charitable arm Flawless Blessings—and he got a big bear hug from Nick to say thanks.

“Kindness ripples,” he says. “Seeing how one act can change someone’s life reminds me why I do this.”

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