A grieving mum, whose brother died less than two weeks ago, has told how three strangers moved her to tears with their random acts of kindness.
Jo Little had been shopping in Poundland in Wythenshawe, Greater Manchester, on December 15, when she went to pay for her items, only to discover her purse had gone missing.
The 56-year-old, who had just lost her brother John 10 days earlier, was forced to leave her chocolates at the till and leave the shop in a state of panic over her missing purse.
According to the Manchester Evening News, however, just moments later, another woman came running out of the shop holding the chocolates, saying she had paid for them herself after seeing what had happened.
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"When I went to get my purse out in the pound shop and it was gone, I was distraught. A woman ran out and said she had bought me the chocolates," Jo told the publication.
After thanking the kind stranger for her generosity, Jo retraced her steps in a bid to find her lost purse, while phoning her bank to cancel her cards before anyone else was able to get hold of them.
The mum headed back into a charity shop where she had been earlier, and to her surprise, her purse had been handed in to a staff member.
"I went into a couple of shops to see if my purse had been handed in. I was in bits because I didn’t know what to do. In the charity shop, I asked if a red purse had been handed in, and she said yes," Jo recalled. "I gave her some chocolate. The relief – I just wanted to cry if I’m honest."
Before returning home, Jo, who works as an order delivery manager, stopped off at a local Costa for a coffee, but despite the fact she had called her bank to unblock her bank card, it wouldn’t work at the till.
Fortunately, yet another kind stranger in front of her in the queue offered to pay for her drink.
"I sat down and burst into tears, because it’s the logistics of trying to get all the cards sorted before John's funeral," Jo said. "I do believe in paying it forwards. I’m going to make a donation to the food bank this weekend."
It just goes to show much of a difference a small act of kindness can make to someone else's day.
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