Customer shocks restaurant staff by leaving $15,000 tip — then reveals the heartbreaking reason

Staffers at a restaurant were floored after finding a huge tip left on a customer’s bill – only to discover the sad reason for the generous gift.

The customer left an astonishing $US10,000 tip for a sombre reason. Picture: The Hill

Staffers at an American restaurant were floored after finding a $US10,000 ($15,300) tip left on a recent bill — and stunned to learn of the reason behind the generous gift.

“Typically, we’ll see every now and then $100 tips,” said Tim Sweeney, the manager of Mason Jar Cafe’s manager in Benton Harbor, Michigan, the NY Post reports.

“But not ever anything of this gratitude or magnitude.”

It was two Mondays ago that the overly generous patron, identified as only Mark, left the 30,835 per cent tip on his $US32.43 ($49.66) tab.

A man in Michigan left a $US10,000 tip at a little restaurant for a very sombre reason. Picture: The Hill

Sweeney was hit with “absolute disbelief” when he saw the receipt — the restaurant didn’t reveal who waited on him — and ran over to speak with the generous customer.

“We went back and forth. I had a conversation with him. He wanted to proceed,” the manager said.

It was then that Mark revealed the sorrowful reason for his unexpected gift.

“It was in memory of a friend who had recently passed and he was in town for the funeral,” waitress Paige Mulick explained.

A mystery customer left a massive tip at a small town restaurant in Michigan. Picture: The Hill

“It was just really an act of kindness that impacted so many people,” she said.

The restaurant opted to split the outrageous tip nine ways among co-workers. Each took home a little over $US1100 ($1680).

Ms Mulick, a recent college graduate who is putting her cut toward student loans, also cheered that “so many incredible women working that day, so many hardworking mothers … just who really deserve this.”

“We work hard. We know that some days you’re going to make more and some days you’re going to make less,” she added. “A little bit goes a long way. In this situation, a lot goes a long way.”

This article originally appeared on NY Post and was reproduced with permission