Kind landlord gifted his home to the woman who rented it for more than 20 years

Not all superheroes wear capes. But many of them change our lives with their acts of kindness. One such event happened in Melbourne when Jane Sayner's landlord made her the owner of the house that she had rented for over two decades, per 9Now. The landlord, John Perrett had moved into a nursing house while battling Parkinson's disease and had called Sayner and said, "I want you to talk to my solicitor, he is here at the moment, and can you give him your full name because I'm leaving you the unit." Perrett had a generous heart. He was a man of his community, a pharmacist, a football player, a property investor, and a philanthropist. Over the span of 83 years, he had amassed a multi-million-dollar fortune.

Sayner had rented this house from Perrett in 1999 and had never imagined that she would own it one day. She had seen this two-bedroom unit with a garden in St Albans, northwest of Melbourne and it looked perfect. Thereon, she had no second thoughts about shifting to this neighborhood. However, when she moved into the house, Sayner said that the yard was empty and she transformed it into a beautiful and colorful garden by planting many plants and flowers, according to Positive Outlooks.

From the beginning, Perrett had been friendly and generous. He had seen how much Sayner loved the property since she never thought of leaving it, even after over 20 years. This made him decide to leave the house to her. Sayner, 74, worked at a market in Epping before she retired. She is still pinching herself, as she said, " (I) still sometimes think, 'did this really happen'?" 

Perrett had also donated the bulk of his fortune, $19.6 million to the Royal Melbourne Hospital's nephrology department. "Words can almost never describe how unselfish and incredibly generous (Perrett is)," Professor Nigel Toussiant from the Royal Melbourne Hospital said. "We are extremely grateful as a department of the Hospital for such a bequest. It's just amazing." Perrett had received a kidney transplant at the hospital some three decades ago.

"That kidney transplant lasted 30-plus years and it was still functioning when he passed away in his mid-80s," Professor Nigel added. He continued "That was a life-saving gift, I guess, to take him off dialysis and he was obviously grateful for the care that he received, for all the doctors and nursing and medical staff to look after him at the Royal Melbourne Hospital." Perrett's donation has been invested to support the hospital and its patients for the decade to come. The hospital also has plans to honor Perrett with commemorative plaques. Perrett died in 2020 aged 86.

As for Sayner, she is enjoying her retirement in her garden and is grateful for Perrett's kindness. She said, "I thank him still, every day of my life … just privately, I say, 'thanks, John'".