Woman heartbroken after stranger who paid for her groceries dies 1 day later
A Canadian woman says she was heartbroken when she found out a stranger who stepped forward to pay her $200 grocery bill had died in a car crash just one day after his good deed.
In a post on Facebook, Jamie-Lynne Knighten, who now lives in California, described her encounter with 28-year-old Matthew Jackson.
With a crying baby in her arms and having realized she forgot her debit card at home, Knighten said she tried to use her Canadian credit card instead — but it kept declining.
Jackson, who was behind her in the line, offered to pay her bill several times, she said.
She thanked him and politely declined. But Jackson insisted, saying he would be glad to pay her bill "as long as you promise to do it for someone else."
"I came to realize how much it would mean to him if I humbly accepted," she said.
"This complete stranger paid over $200 for my groceries."
Knighten wrote that she was in tears when she thanked Jackson and asked him where he worked before parting ways.
'Amazing young man'
When she called Jackson's boss later in the week to try and get in touch with him, she heard crying on the other end and found out he had died the following night in a car crash.
"His boss explained to me how amazing this young man was in his everyday life and that what he did for me was just who he was as a person."
"I thought for sure I would get the chance to see him again, give him a hug and thank him at least once more in person," she wrote. "Now I won't get that chance, but more importantly, no one else will get the chance to meet him and that breaks my heart."
After sharing her story about Jackson, Knighten's Facebook post has been shared more than 2,000 times.
It has also kickstarted a social media movement called "Matthew's Legacy" where strangers from around the world share their stories of small acts of kindness, such as donating money to homeless people, on a Facebook page set up in honour of Jackson.
Knighten has been replying to comments on her Facebook post urging people to "do something extraordinary" for a complete stranger in honour of Jackson.
