A mum was moved by the kindness of a stranger who stopped to help her non-verbal daughter in the street.
Cydney Jones was walking with her two-year-old daughter Mazikeen when the tot stopped and asked for a slushy.
When Cydney said no because the weather was cold, Mazikeen, who finds it hard to communicate due to being non-verbal, threw herself to the floor and started crying.
Cydney, 22, tried to get her daughter off the ground for around half an hour.
It wasn’t until a woman approached the pair on Milton Road in Ellesmere Port that the tot started to calm down.
Cydney, originally from the West Midlands, said: "It's quite embarrassing when people are walking past and just staring.
"We were there for about 30 minutes just trying to get her off the floor.
"It was nice that somebody actually helped instead of staring at us like we're really weird, or that she's a naughty kid.
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"She just spoke to her really softly, trying to get down to her level, things that are really helpful with kids that don't communicate.
"Mazikeen understands, but when she's like that, it takes her a while to calm down.
"So it's just trying to speak softly, trying not to make her more upset, and trying to distract her more than anything.
"It's embarrassing, because instead of people offering to help, they just stare like she's a naughty kid, and they don't understand that it's really a communication issue that she's having.
"It's difficult for me as a parent, as well as her, being a nearly three-year-old who is struggling."
Although it’s not known why Mazikeen struggles to say more than a handful of words, her family have been told she will start speaking in her own time.
Cydney continued: “Other kids sometimes don't want to play with her because she doesn't communicate, and they take it as her being rude or not wanting to be their friend.
"It's just sad, because she's such a good kid. If people took the chance to get to know her, she's such a character.
"She communicates in her own way, and she is such a kind little girl.
"For instance, she was at school a few weeks ago and a little girl fell over. She came up to the little girl and asked if she was okay, because she can say a few words.
"She asked if she was okay, picked her up off the floor and took her to the teacher, and then gave her a ball to cheer her up.
"So it's more actions than her actually speaking."
Cydney says she is more than grateful for the kind stranger's help on Tuesday, October 19.
The woman held Mazikeen's hand, pointing out puddles as they walked to the end of the street before parting ways.
Cydney now wants people to show more understanding when they see kids in distress, the Liverpool Echo reports.
She added: "If people see kids having tantrums, or someone struggling with their kid having a tantrum in the street, it might not just be a naughty kid.
"It's not always that a kid's just being a terror. It could be something a bit deeper than just what it looks like.
"You can sort of help, because even if the person doesn't want the help, it's asking in a non-patronising way.
"It's just nice sometimes to have that bit of support.”
