A stuffed toy may not be that much to everyone, but for one 10-year-old it meant everything.
Leon Ashworth, 10, spotted the toy panda while he was shopping in Asda with his mum Debbie.
He cuddled the cute toy as they walked around the store, but his mum told him to put it back as she didn't have the money to treat him.
When Leon Ashworth’s mum could not afford to buy him a stuffed panda he really wanted, he wrote a forlorn note on the toy’s box pleading with shoppers not to buy it until his mum could.
What transpired next is heartwarming.
The boy, who lives in Liverpool, England with his mom, Debbie Ashworth, first saw his beloved ‘Pandy’ at an Asda supermarket
And even though the thoughtful little boy was willing to wait until his mum could buy it once her paycheck came through, the store’s staff decided to do something incredibly thoughtful once they had noticed Leon’s scribbled letter.
Writing about it on their official blog, Asda spokesperson wrote, “He found an empty cardboard box, popped the panda inside it and quietly wrote a message on the box: ‘My mum didn’t have enough money to buy me Pandy so she’s buying me Pandy on 15th June so please don’t buy him as it will make me cry. Thank you so much from Hopeful Future Owner.”
They went on to write, “Our colleagues at the store were so moved when section leader David Bateman found the message they clubbed together to buy Pandy – and put out an appeal on Facebook to track down his “future owner”.”
In search of the young author, whom they didn’t know at the time, they posted the note on Facebook – and eventually attracted the attention of Debbie Ashworth, who immediately recognized her son’s handwriting. The Asda crew invited the mom and her son back to the store, and had a wonderful surprise waiting for them. “This is the best day of my life,” Leon remarked to his mom. For Debbie, who lost a prematurely-born son in January and has struggled since, the gesture was even more meaningful.
Leon was overjoyed, but his mum, later posted on Facebook, “Thanks again to the staff at Asda. What it doesn’t say in the article is that Leon suggested that the pocket money we were going to use to buy Pandy be donated to the Honeysuckle Bond who provide support to parents and siblings following the loss of a baby. £15 doesn’t sound much but it will buy a number of tiny teddies for the smallest of those who have passed away. Its nice to pay the kindness we were shown forward.”
