Wonderful Christmas gesture leaves London taxi driver in floods of tears

Image credit: Yunus Ozturk

The festive season seems to bring out the caring side of people, and none more so than one mystery man whose kind gesture left a London taxi driver in tears.

It's been a tough year for taxi drivers all around the UK, with the hospitality and transport sector being one of the worse hit from the global coronavirus pandemic.

For one random cabbie, Yunus Ozturk, his luck was about to change, when a passerby handed him a Christmas card with a gift inside.

Yunus was waiting for his passenger to return to the cab after a short stop-off, when a man he never knew and had never seen before, approached his taxi window.

Speaking to TaxiPoint, Yunus said: "I had a job from Highbury Corner to Hartington Road, Nine Elms, a wait and return. As I was waiting for my customers to come back, a man, about 30-years-old, knocked on my window.

"He gave me a Christmas card and wished me a Merry Christmas. At first I couldn't do anything but say thank you so much, thinking it's just a random person giving out Christmas cards.

"I opened up the card, which I thought felt a bit thick in size. Inside, to my amazement, were two £50 notes, along with a lovely message."

Yunus went on to tell us that he jumped out of his vehicle to call the man, as he felt he couldn't accept such a gift, but the mystery man simply called back: "Don't worry mate, Merry Christmas, it's been a hard year for you guys."

Yunus told us that that the kind gesture left him in tears, saying it made him feel like "the world was still a wonderful place" and that it showed London cabbies were still valued and loved by some Londoners.

Yunus added: "It's been a hard year as I've worked throughout the whole lockdown. It was crazy as it was my first day back after self-isolating, due to my wife catching the virus.

"Just before the isolation, I ended up in hospital due to anxiety caused by stress of work and responsibilities.

"So for someone to do such a nice gesture, it made me forget about it all. My hopes are positive for 2021 and the man who done this gesture certainly have me this motivation."