An Australian mum who was being forced to choose between paying bills and buying her children Christmas presents was blown away when she found out a toy she’d put on lay-by for her son had been paid off by a generous stranger.

The cost-of-living crisis has made this Christmas particularly hard for many Australians, including Rhiannon Williams. When the West Australian mother and two of her children went into Bunbury ToyWorld to pay off the remaining $1,050 off a Star Wars Millennium Falcon LEGO set for her son Jai, they were “overwhelmed” to discover a selfless ‘secret Santa’ had swooped in and paid off $12,500 worth of toys.

“This gift is for my eldest son who has autism and is a type 1 diabetic who has been dreaming of this gift for a few years now,” she told Yahoo Finance.

“My two youngest children, Kade and Addi, were there, they were so excited and overwhelmed that I did not need to pay.”

The act of generosity came at a “tough time” for Williams, who was desperately in need of a helping hand.

“This means so much to our family at this time as I had lost my job a few months ago and hadn’t had much luck finding another,” she said. “So, money has been so tight and stretched to our maximum to afford gifts our children requested for Christmas.

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“This generous act means my partner and I can pay bills that were not going to get paid. We are forever grateful for this.”

Phone call brings Christmas early: ‘Cried in a toy store’

Store owner Rick Baker said he was elated when he received a phone call from an anonymous donor wanting to pay off every lay-by in the store.

“You try to keep it a secret because, when they walk in-store and come up to pay, being able to turn around and say they don’t have to pay, they are gobsmacked,” Baker told Yahoo Finance. “You can see the reaction, they are so happy and grateful that someone as generous as these business people have helped Christmas come early.

“There was one particular chap, and he’d just lost his job and it brought him to tears.”

The single-father of a three-year-old boy said he had been slowly paying off but had $275 to go and had even asked for extra time after the business he worked for went under.

“I didn't get my last pay, no holiday pay, no super contributions and I found some casual work to keep paying bills,” he said.

“I was so surprised you did this for everyone. I couldn't wrap my head around it at first, I thought Toyworld was telling me I had to pick my son’s toys up that day and I had to pay it all there and then. But then they said: ‘Secret Santa paid for it.’ Well, that's when a 6'7" man cried in a toy store because of your kindness.”