Aaron Collins was only in his 20s . But something , his family and friends say , made him outline three things he wanted when he died : to repay his parents any debt he may have owed , to give a homeless person some money and to leave `` an awesome tip '' for a waiter or waitress . `` I 'm not talking about 25 % . I mean $ 500 for a ... pizza , '' Collins wrote in his will , according to his brother . Collins died on July 7 , just three weeks after his 30th birthday , in a Lexington , Kentucky , hospital , leaving behind family and friends who took up his final request -- to leave a big tip . Family and friends fulfilled Aaron 's request , tipping one waitress in Lexington the $ 500 , a moment that Aaron 's brother , Seth Collins , videotaped and posted online Wednesday to YouTube . It is linked to the family 's memorial page , AaronCollins.org . Maybe it was the simple gesture . Maybe it was the generosity . But something caught the imagination of the public , who began watching the video . By Saturday , according to a YouTube count , there were more than 1.3 million views and nearly $ 30,000 in donations for the family to continue what has become known as `` Aaron 's Last Wish , '' Seth Collins told CNN . The nearly 3-minute video chronicles the family carrying out Collins ' last wish at Puccini 's Smiling Teeth , a pizzeria in Lexington . `` Well , this is where it 's happening , '' Seth Collins says , narrating the trip to the pizzeria on Tuesday . `` I 'm waiting for the rest of the family to get here and then we 'll be going in and having lunch and giving someone a big tip . Hope it means a lot to them . '' Restaurant manager Caroline Coleman told CNN the family came in and ordered from waitress Sarah Ward . The video picks up at the end of the meal , with the brother telling the waitress : `` My brother passed away late last week . He asked that we go have pizza , and leave the waiter or waitress a $ 500 tip . '' Tips on tipping from Eatocracy . A visibly stunned Ward said : `` Are you serious ? Are you kidding me ? '' Seth Collins answered : `` That 's what he wanted . Yeah , and if people keep donating , we will keep giving away $ 500 . '' Ward then hugged him . `` I 'm going to be telling this story the rest of my life , '' she said . A preliminary investigation of Collins ' cause of death points to suicide by strangulation , according to the Fayette County coroner , though final autopsy results have yet to be released . Collins ' family question the initial findings , saying there was no indication he would take his own life , according to his brother . But family members have no doubt that Collins ' last wish is making a big impact . Since the video posted on YouTube , Seth Collins said the family has heard from people in the Netherlands , Brazil , Portugal and even Russia . So many people responded that he is moving the website to a different server to handle the increased traffic . `` People have just been overwhelmingly generous and kind , '' he said . `` If we can keep doing it , I 'd like to keep giving these tips , and keep filming them so other people can see the happiness it 's bringing to someone . '' All the donations are going to the waiters and waitresses , the brother said . `` He left us a will full of his personality , '' Seth Collins wrote on a memorial page . `` Aaron was generous in life , and that 's probably why he did n't have the money to do this himself . He just accepted that if someone needed help , he would help them . '' And in a way , he is doing just that . Does this inspire you to do something `` awesome '' for a stranger ? Let us know in the comments below .
Puccini , 30 , died on July 7 in a Lexington , Lexington , hospital . He left a will that asked that somebody leave `` an awesome tip '' `` I 'm not talking 25 % . I mean $ thousands of dollars for a ... pizza , '' he wrote in his will . A video of his family fulfilling his wish goes viral and raises 500 .