Nurse stunned as kind stranger steps up to pay for her £50 shopping bill to say thank you during coronavirus crisis
A NURSE was left in shock when a stranger gave her £50 to pay for her shopping.
Isobelle Smithson, 24, was already feeling guilty at using her NHS card to jump the queue in an Aldi supermarket.
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But the mystery benefactor had heard her chatting about her job to others waiting in line.
He stepped forward and, ignoring Isobelle’s protests, placed two £20 notes and a £10 in her trolley.
Mum-of-one Isobelle, who works on a maternity ward, said she was “in complete shock and awe of the kindness of this lovely person”.
She told The Sun: “People are really behind the NHS and that’s making such a massive difference.
“We all work together — we’re like a family. When it gets hard we just pull together and support one another. To know the public are behind us is overwhelming.”
The gesture came as Isobelle went to pay £56.85 for her shopping in Pontefract, West Yorks.
People are really behind the NHS and that’s making such a massive difference.
Isobelle Smithson
Isobelle, who works on a labour ward at Pinderfields General Hospital, Wakefield, wrote online she felt “like a right idiot” using her card but other shoppers were happy to step aside.
She added: “The man came up to me when I had just about finished my shopping and asked if I was an NHS worker.
“I jumped out of my skin and said, ‘Yes, why what’s wrong?’ He handed me £50 and said please use this for your shopping.
"I said I couldn’t take it but he put it down in my trolley and began to walk away and said, ‘No, it’s from me and my wife, thank you for what you do’.”
She has since tracked down the mystery donor — primary school headteacher Luke Welsh, 30.
The married dad of one told The Sun: “It was wonderful to know how much it meant to her.
“It was literally a token amount to simply say you are amazing, thank you.”
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Luke is looking after key workers’ children at his school in Wakefield.
He said: “I’m doing my bit but I’m not doing anything near what Isobelle is doing. They’re all incredible.”
Isobelle added: “It was such an amazing gesture.”
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