An Asda worker stepped in to cover the cost of essential baby supplies for a new father after his payment card repeatedly failed at the checkout.
Ashleigh Macfarlane-Staig, a service team leader at the supermarket in Horwich, Bolton, used her own money to pay for the items when Harry Brown, 48, found himself unable to complete the transaction.
Mr Brown had rushed to the store to purchase necessities for his wife Emma, 37, and their newborn daughter following an emergency caesarean section.
When his card was declined and he requested the purchase be cancelled, the 37-year-old employee decided to intervene.
The couple’s daughter, Freya-Maureen, had arrived unexpectedly small and required a manual breast pump to feed properly.
Mr Brown had been awake for an extended period when he made the shopping trip, having managed only three hours of sleep across three days.
He told the BBC: “It was one of those days – I was absolutely shattered by then after working all day on the Friday, getting into bed and then Emma going into labour.”
The exhausted father had gone to purchase a breast pump, baby grows, blankets and sanitary products when the payment issue occurred.
Ashleigh Macfarlane-Staig was praised for her work
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ASDA
“When I got to the till it just kept saying ‘declined, declined, declined’,” he recalled.
Mrs Brown expressed profound gratitude for the gesture, explaining to BBC Radio Manchester how it made a tangible difference during a vulnerable moment.
“Her kindness meant I could feed my daughter and make sure she was warm. It restored my faith in humanity,” she said.
The new mother acknowledged that while such acts of generosity are often reported, experiencing one firsthand was entirely different.
The Horwich Asda where the kindhearted gesture took place
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She added: “You hear about it all the time, people stepping in and doing this kind of thing, but it’s never happened to us like this before.
“She didn’t have to do it at all, but it made such a difference to us.”
Ms Macfarlane-Staig, herself a mother-of-six, said the decision came instinctively when she noticed the baby items among his shopping.
The supermarket chain has since reimbursed her through its internal recognition programme, adding a bonus to thank her for the compassionate act.