13-year-old trades Xbox to surprise his single mother with a car

When his single mom needed a car, a 13-year-old boy decided to sell his Xbox to buy her one.

What's the story?

Krystal Preston, a single mother of three in Fernley, Nevada, has been going through a tough time financially. Her oldest child, William, has tried to help out by mowing lawns and cleaning yards in their neighborhood.

Krystal wrote in a Facebook post that the weeks leading up to her son's showing of generosity had "literally been hell filled with so many tears, anger, confusion and heartache."

In the midst of all this turmoil, she said, William informed her that he had bought her a car.

"I, of course, laughed and told him 'ya right!,'" she recalled. But he insisted that he was telling the truth.

As it turns out, William had seen on Facebook that a local woman wanted to sell her 1999 Chevy Metro.

"It was really cheap so I asked her if I could trade it or earn it, and at first she said no and after she thought about it, then she said yes," William told KOLO-TV.

The woman eventually agreed to sell the car in return for William's Xbox and some yard work.

William said he was inspired by seeing a YouTube video of another family surprising their mother with a car.

"I wanted to do that," he explained.

What did his mom say?

"I completely lost it. I started balling my eyes out," Krystal said on Facebook. "I am so proud of my son. He is such a good kid. He may have his days but OMG what 13-year-old kid do you know that buys his mom a car."

After the story broke, people started contacting KOLO asking how they could help. The station directed people to a GoFundMe account that had raised $3,530 at the time of this article's publication.