Woman at checkout reacts to girl's anxiety attack in the best possible way

Sometimes it takes one simple gesture to make a difference in people's lives.

Just like the one that positively affected a girl from Cannock, north of Birmingham, who had a panic attack in a supermarket.

Two years ago, Helen Martin's daughter was in a Sainsbury's grocery store when there was a fire alarm drill that completely traumatised her.

Martin recounted on Facebook how her daughter had been having episodes triggered by alarms or loud noises in large environments such as airports and supermarkets.

"It took 2 years to get her to go back into Sainsbury's and even now we have to ask if there are any scheduled alarms before she will venture around the store," Martin wrote.

On Sunday, Martin and her daughter were doing last-minute shopping in Sainsbury's. As they were at the checkout to pay, the lights dimmed tin the store to indicate it was closing soon. That immediately triggered a reaction:

"Immediately she started panicking as she thought an alarm was about to go off she wanted to run and got extremely upset."

A lady at the checkout intervened after Martin explained the problem to her.

"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," the woman said.

"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. "

Martin said she'd come back to the Sainsbury's to ask the lady's name and ensure she "gets the recognition and thanks she deserves."

"To me she is a Star 💛💛," she concluded.