Anne Jackson's son Sam was distraught after his spinning Christmas toy broke - until Widnes shopworker came to the rescue
An autistic boy’s Christmas was saved by a kind-hearted shop worker who gave up her own child’s gift.
Anne Jackson’s 12-year-old son Sam had become transfixed with a light-up spinning Christmas toy from discount store B&M which he received as a present from his uncle.
But on Boxing Day the button jammed and the toy stopped working leaving the autistic youngster, who couldn’t understand what had gone wrong, in tears.
Unable to console him, Sam’s mum Anne rushed to the B&M store in Widnes in an attempt to replace the toy.
But she was devastated to find there were none left in stock and was close to tears when a kind shop worker Michaela Pinder, 24, stepped in and saved the day.
Anne told the Liverpool Echo: “I couldn’t find it anywhere and asked a member of staff, called Michaela, if there were any.
“She checked and they were all gone.
“By that point I was close to tears, I knew I couldn’t go home without another one.
“I told Michaela the situation and without hesitation she said 'my baby got one for Christmas, my partner will bring it in for you’.
“She told me they only lived 10 minutes away and it was no problem. As I was trying to say no to her she was already dialling his number and talking to him.
“He was there in minutes with the toy and when he came over I said ‘please let me give you some money to get something else for the baby’, and she just said ‘I don’t want anything – Merry Christmas’.
“I was just gobsmacked someone could be so kind and thoughtful.
“Christmas is a difficult time for anyone with autism because change can be quite bewildering and frightening for them.
“Sam hadn’t stopped spinning the toy all day and was obviously getting a lot from it so when the button got stuck he was getting more and more stressed. Because he doesn’t talk it’s very difficult to communicate with him.
“He ended up face down on the bed just sobbing and it was so upsetting.
“But when I came back with the toy and showed it to Sam it was like someone had flicked a switch in his head, he was instantly happy again.
“I couldn’t believe it. Michaela saved the day, no question.”
In a bid to thank the Widnes shop worker, Anne posted about what had happened on Facebook in an attempt to get a message back to Michaela to tell her how grateful they were.
And Anne, from Great Sankey, near Warrington, has now had the chance to thank Michaela in person after she saw the post.
She said : “We wanted to let know how grateful we were, and to show people that some real Christmas Spirit still exists.
“When it got back to her she sent me a lovely message saying it was the least she could do.
“I told her she would never understand how much it meant to us.
“So many people don’t realise how hard autism is, the communication problems and the incredible sensory needs, so seeing how many people had read the post meant a lot as it is so important in helping raise awareness.”
