'Her kindness meant I could feed my daughter'

A couple's "faith in humanity has been restored" after a supermarket worker stepped in to buy them the essentials they needed following the birth of their daughter.

After his wife's emergency Caesarian section, Harry Brown from Bolton in Greater Manchester dashed to Asda in Horwich to buy a breast pump, baby grows, blankets and sanitary products.

But when the 48-year-old arrived at the till his card would not work. When Harry asked a staff member to cancel the transaction, she stepped in to pay for the £44 shop.

Harry's wife Emma, 37, said it "restored their faith in humanity - she didn't have to do that, but she did. Her kindness meant I could feed my daughter, make sure she was warm."

Emma and Harry, who had wanted a baby for 11 years, welcomed their daughter Freya-Maureen on 8 February after more than 24 hours of labour.

Freya had been born smaller than expected and was not able to breastfeed without a manual aid.

When the couple returned home with their new daughter the following day, Emma said they did not have everything they needed.

"She was smaller than expected so she had no blankets either - we were literally covering her up with one of the old Christmas blankets," she told BBC Radio Manchester.

And so when Harry arrived at the checkout to find his payment card was not working, he did not know where to turn.

"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," he said.

"By this point I hadn't slept - I'd had three hours sleep over the last three days.

"When I got to the till it just kept saying 'declined, declined, declined'

"I knew it was the right PIN and I double checked.

"And then I was calling and calling Emma but of course she'd just had a C-section and she could have been on the toilet, changing Freya - I just didn't know."

Harry said he then called over a member of staff to say he would have to cancel the transaction.

To his surprise, the Asda employee offered to pay for the full shop.

"It was so unexpected," Harry said. "Even when I walked out the store, I was still a bit taken aback by it."

For Emma, who was at home caring for Freya, the gesture meant far more than a one-off selfless deed.

"You hear about it all the time - people stepping in and doing this kind of thing - but that's never happened to us like this before," she said.

"You never expect it - you put yourself out there with your manners and let people go first and that kind of thing - but you never expect in the world that somebody would actually do that for you.

"She didn't have to do it at all, but it made such a difference to us.

"And it's nice to see that people out there are still decent - especially in this current climate where people are struggling to pay the bills and things like that.

"It's just nice to be surprised by the world once in a while."

The couple have said they had since been able to reach out to the staff member to share their gratitude and pay back the £44.

"We have given her the monetary value back and nominated her for an award within the company - and she definitely didn't want the money back, she was just doing it to be nice," the couple said.

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