A Papa John’s pizza delivery driver got the biggest surprise of his life not so long ago when one of his frequent customers gave him a very hefty gratuity.

After Carlos Valdez, also known as @vendingheads on the social media app TikTok, published a series of videos displaying Derlin Newey’s happy pizza deliveries, the TikTok community has taken a like to the 89-year-old pizza delivery guy known as Derlin Newey.

In the videos, Newey would always greet Valdez with his characteristic tag line “Hello, are you looking for some pizza?” whenever he opened his door to collect Valdez’s order. Because of how friendly he is, he has quickly established himself as the delivery family’s first choice.

In point of fact, whenever they have a hankering for some Papa John’s pizza, they never fail to make a special request for him to be their delivery person.

Because of how often they now do business with one another, Newey made a joke in a TikTok video that he was going to their home for the thousandth time.

As @vendingheads continued to share video of Newey’s deliveries on TikTok, a growing number of their 68.9 thousand followers quickly became admirers of the old guy.

Fans were often sending Newey words of affection, but many users were also confused about why he was still working as a pizza delivery driver at his advanced age. Valdez came to the conclusion that they were correct; a guy of 89 years old shouldn’t be working that much longer.

In the spirit of putting his influence to good use, Valdez requested that his fans contribute to Newey’s medical fund using his own Venmo account.

They were under the impression that they would be able to raise a few bucks, but to their astonishment, the TikTok community came through for them. They were successful in raising $12,000 in a very short period of time!

In order to give the delivery guy his surprise, Valdez and his wife paid a visit to the man’s house in Roy, Utah, the week before. “Hey, man, how are you doing? How are you feeling? As Newey opened the door, he uttered what he had to say.

After some time had passed, the couple gave the $12,000 cheque to him. When Newey saw that it was his name that was on it, he was taken aback, so the pair explained to him where the money had come from.

“No,” he said, seemingly unable to believe what he had just heard. “Why would you ever consider doing anything like that?” The pair explained to him that the kindness shown to them came from the TikTok community because of their love for one another.

“How can I possibly express my gratitude to you?” He stated that with his eyes filled with tears. “I’m at a complete loss for words.”

Newey said that he lives by himself in his mobile home. Because he couldn’t pay his expenses with only his Social Security check alone, he had no choice but to continue working. To make ends meet, he works roughly 30 hours each week, delivering pizzas to Papa John’s customers.

The Valdez family expressed their happiness to the source, saying that they felt that they had assisted someone who was deserving of their assistance. They have high hopes that Newey will no longer be required to put in such long hours at work thanks to all the money he has gotten.