The kind gesture of one man to help another by paying for his fuel at a petrol station on the New South Wales–Victorian border has gone viral on social media.

Albury tradie Tyson Crawley filled up his car with nearly $110 worth of petrol at the weekend, but when he got to the counter to pay, he realised he could not remember the PIN for his new card.

A stranger stepped in and paid for the fuel, and rather than write down his details so Mr Crawley could repay him, he wrote, "Pass it on".

The stranger then smiled for a photo and went on his way.

Mr Crawley posted the photo on social media, and the news about the kind gesture has been shared by thousands of people.

In the post, he said he had been stunned by the gesture.

"I couldn't believe it, it totalled $110 — not a sum we kind of just throw away," he wrote.

"He continually convinced me it was okay. After I ran out of options, I ever so gratefully accepted."



The good Samaritan, John Kennedy Jr, an ice hockey player for the Newcastle North Stars, was travelling for work at the time and said he had not been expecting to receive any attention.

"I just kind of walked into a petrol station to get a coffee and that happened, and I walked out and thought that was it," he said.

'It's OK to accept help'

Mr Kennedy said his gesture had been a shock to Mr Crawley.

John Kennedy told Tyson Crawley to "pass it on" when he paid for the tradie's $100 petrol bill. ( Facebook: Tyson Crawley )

"I think he was blown back, as well as the cashier. They were both like 'What is this guy doing?'," he said.

"I guess I would have been in the same situation.

"In most cases you want to say no, I've got this, but sometimes it is OK to accept help."

Mr Kennedy admitted he had thought twice about paying the bill.

"I thought he had two dairy chocolate milks on there and I was getting ready to take care of those, but once I saw he had fuel on it I figured I'll just go about my way, because you never know how much fuel can be," he said.

"So I actually did step outside of the petrol station, but I pretty much felt a tug on my heart and I just went back in and said 'Hey I've been in that situation before, it's kind of tough every now and then, and I think we all need a hand every now and then'."

Mr Kennedy said he had been through the "darkest moment" in his life recently, which had made him look beyond himself.

"The love that people showed me, it was a real reality check," he said.

"We are on Earth for such a short amount of time.

"With all the hatred, the racism, the terrorism, so many bad things, we're all humans, we're all brothers and sisters in the grand scheme of things. I just think we should show more love.

"I'm sure there's plenty of people that do amazing things, more incredible than this day-in and day-out, and they don't get any recognition."