Helen Martin’s daughter, Cordie, has suffered panic attacks ever since she was a small child.
Loud noises, alarms and large, busy environments trigger immense distress in the now-nine-year-old.
So when the lights dipped inside a local Sainsbury’s supermarket recently, Helen knew her little girl’s anxiety was about to take hold.
“Immediately [Cordie] started panicking as she thought an alarm was about to go off,” the British mother wrote on the store’s Facebook page. “She wanted to run and got extremely upset.”
The cashier noticed the young girl’s distress and came to her aid.
“She came around the checkout and asked my daughter to help her scan the shopping, coaxed her into her seat whilst we dried her tears and completely distracted her by letting her scan all the food,” wrote Helen.
“I cannot tell you how much this meant to me and my daughter. I was overwhelmed with gratitude and emotion that she managed to turn such a negative experience into such a lovely one.”
[fbEmbed_url=”https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10154352940801864&set=o.90229869376&type=1&theater” ]
Were it not for this woman, who has since been identified as ‘Tina’, the situation could have proven a lot worse.
Top Comments
That was pretty awesome Tina - GJ
Isn't the bigger issue here WHY she has panic attacks? Rather than avoiding them, that little girl kind of needs to get over it, and her mother needs to stop pandering. Not everything can be fixed with kindness.... and kids who can't enter a sainsburys without alleging that they'll have a panic attack need help.
As someone who has panic attacks, being told to just 'get over it' is a horrific thing to say. Try telling someone with a broken leg to just walk it off. Yes, as she grows up she needs to learn manage her attacks which her and her family do through asking the shop before entering about alarms. I feel like you could show some compassion to a poor scared 9 year old little girl. I hope next time you feel scared and worried someone is nicer to you as an adult than what you have shown her.
"get over it"? Guessing you've never had a panic attack!
You clearly have no understanding of anxiety nor (it seems) any empathy
That's some nice compassion you're showing there, Jenny. Slow clap for you.