A mum was left in tears after learning on social media that her young son had performed a sweet act of kindness to help an elderly shopper in need. Proud mum Carly Inglis was praised on Facebook for raising "amazing" son Olly, 12, well after he gave a pensioner cash to buy her shopping when he saw she was struggling to afford it.
Olly had paid a visit to his local Spar shop in Prestatyn, Denbighshire, north east Wales, to try and find a bottle of the viral Prime hydration drink, but while he was there, he noticed an older lady struggling to pay for a loaf of bread. While Olly thought nothing of offering her £2 from the £5 he had been given by his nan, the kind-hearted gesture caught the attention of the community.
A woman who was also in the store at the time and witnessed what happened, shared a post on Facebook, praising the young boy for what he did. Mum Carly, 31, saw the post, which described how a boy arrived at the shop on a scooter with a friend who was riding a bike, before she saw a "little boy hand her the money to pay for it”.
Recognising the description in the post as she scrolled through her Facebook, carer Carly decided to phone her son, who was staying with his grandmother at the time, to see if he had been to the shop. When he said yes, Carly decided to reply to the post to confirm her son was the mystery kind schoolboy, NorthWalesLive reports.
Within seconds, Carly's phone started going mad as messages started pouring in praising Olly. Well done for raising him so well,” one woman said. “You must be so proud. The impact that a simple gesture can have on people’s lives.” A man from the seaside town added: “You have an amazing young man for a son.”
Carly said she began crying as she read through all the messages and comments. “They were coming in so fast that my phone broke,” she said. “It took me a couple of hours to find another one, by which time the original post had got 1,000 likes and hundreds of comments.”
Explaining what happened, the proud mum said: "Olly told me his nan gave him £5 after getting a praise card from school for good behaviour. In the store, he gave £2 of this to the lady to pay for her bread because he felt tight she didn’t have enough money. He hadn’t mentioned it because he didn’t think anything of it.”
News quickly spread across Prestatyn. When Carly popped into her local pub, the Jolly Sailor, the landlord rushed over with a £5 gift for Olly. Spotting the post, a Prestatyn High School teacher commended him to the headmaster, who handed Olly another praise card.
Spar staff then asked Carly to bring her son to the Victoria Road store for a surprise presentation. As well as a tub of sweets and a thank-you card for his generosity in helping a regular customer, Olly received a bottle of Prime.
“I think the manager had spent all day running around trying to find it!” she said. “It’s a craze among the kids here – you can’t find it anywhere.” To cap it all, Olly pocketed another £5 from his proud-as-punch grandmother.
Carly is divorced from her first husband, Olly’s dad, but they remain on good terms and both actively co-parent their son. He has four other children at home, Carly has two others, Olly being the oldest.
“So many people have said he must come from a loving family,” she said. “He does, even though his dad and I have remarried.
“Our phones are still being bombarded with messages, and I’m very grateful for them all. It’s been bit of a shock but, yes, of course, I am so proud of what my son did.”
