By . Kerry Mcdermott . PUBLISHED: . 10:33 EST, 1 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:58 EST, 1 May 2013 . A son who surprised his mother by paying off her mortgage posted a heartwarming video of her reaction online. The footage, in which the Canadian man can be seen handing his Ethiopian mother an envelope containing a cheque, has been watched more than half a million times in the space of two days. As it dawns on his mother what the cheque means, for several seconds she can only say one thing: 'Wow.' Scroll down for video . Gesture: A Canadian man who surprised his Ethiopian mother by paying off her mortgage posted a video of her overwhelmed reaction online . She then says, according to the translation of her words on screen: 'Tonight I will not sleep for fear of dying of happiness.' Her son, known only as YouTube user iProjectAtlas, posted the video online with the title 'Dear Mother'. He said in a caption that, while he was 'by no means a perfect son', he wanted to 'do right by a very special woman in my life'. He went on to say that giving her the means to pay off her mortgage could not amount to even one-tenth of what she had done for him in his life. Trickster: The man sat his mother down and told her they needed to talk . Reaction: The video which shows the young man handing the cheque to his mother has been watched more than 650,000 times online in the space of two days . Disbelief: A translation of the stunned woman's reaction appears on screen in the video . Surprise: After opening the envelope her son hands to her, his mother takes several seconds to digest what she is holding . Wow: His mother appears totally overwhelmed by her son's life-changing gesture . 'What I did for my mother can't even amount to 1/10 of what she's done for me,' he wrote. 'I can't even say that you can compare the two. 'That being said seeing her smile, seeing her shoulders drop, her breathe a sigh of relief made everything worth it. 'I . don't expect everyone to understand but I just wanted to share that, to . see what a small gesture can do for those closest to us,' he wrote. Happiness: The man's beaming mother tries to sum up what her son's gift means to her .
Video shows man handing his mother an envelope with a cheque inside .
Ethiopian woman is seen staring at cheque in stunned disbelief .
Heartwarming video has been watched over 650,000 times on YouTube .
By . Kerry Mcdermott . PUBLISHED: . 10:33 EST, 1 May 2013 . | . UPDATED: . 10:58 EST, 1 May 2013 . A son who surprised his mother by paying off her mortgage posted a heartwarming video of her reaction online. The footage, in which the Canadian man can be seen handing his Ethiopian mother an envelope containing a cheque, has been watched more than half a million times in the space of two days. As it dawns on his mother what the cheque means, for several seconds she can only say one thing: 'Wow.' Scroll down for video . Gesture: A Canadian man who surprised his Ethiopian mother by paying off her mortgage posted a video of her overwhelmed reaction online . She then says, according to the translation of her words on screen: 'Tonight I will not sleep for fear of dying of happiness.' Her son, known only as YouTube user iProjectAtlas, posted the video online with the title 'Dear Mother'. He said in a caption that, while he was 'by no means a perfect son', he wanted to 'do right by a very special woman in my life'. He went on to say that giving her the means to pay off her mortgage could not amount to even one-tenth of what she had done for him in his life. Trickster: The man sat his mother down and told her they needed to talk . Reaction: The video which shows the young man handing the cheque to his mother has been watched more than 650,000 times online in the space of two days . Disbelief: A translation of the stunned woman's reaction appears on screen in the video . Surprise: After opening the envelope her son hands to her, his mother takes several seconds to digest what she is holding . Wow: His mother appears totally overwhelmed by her son's life-changing gesture . 'What I did for my mother can't even amount to 1/10 of what she's done for me,' he wrote. 'I can't even say that you can compare the two. 'That being said seeing her smile, seeing her shoulders drop, her breathe a sigh of relief made everything worth it. 'I . don't expect everyone to understand but I just wanted to share that, to . see what a small gesture can do for those closest to us,' he wrote. Happiness: The man's beaming mother tries to sum up what her son's gift means to her .
Canadian man can be seen handing his Ethiopian mother an envelope containing a cheque, has been man handing the cheque to his mother has been watched more than 650,000 times online in the