An unbelievable tragedy happened when one man did a kind deed for a complete stranger. Though she only had brief interactions with him, the woman he blessed now wants the world to be aware of his legacy.
Jamie-Lynn Knighten, a single mother from San Diego, was shopping at a Trader Joe’s in Oceanside, California, on November 10, 2015, when an anti-fraud lock prevented her from paying for her $200 worth of groceries with a credit card. Knighten was attempting to call the bank when a kind-hearted man, volunteered to pay.
Knighten tried calling her credit card company to resolve the anti-fraud block but had trouble getting through to a live person since she kept getting different automated messages. She was frazzled during the situation because her five-month-old baby boy was crying during the entire transaction.
“(My baby) just was not having it. By the time we got to the checkout, I was done,” Knighten said.
Matthew Jackson was a knight for what he did, offering to use his own credit card to immediately pay for Knighten’s groceries. He generously gifted the single mother with the groceries she urgently needed to feed her growing family.
In front of so many people in the Trader Joe’s line, she wasn’t ready to appreciate a stranger’s kindness. Knighten first rejected her savior. But eventually relented and allowed Jackson to foot the large bill after the 28-year-old was persistent, though, and insisted that the mother of one take his cash to pay for the items.
Knighten remarked, “It just felt like this huge hug, this great big bear hug,” Even though he didn’t want his money back, the man did identify himself to Knighten as Matthew Jackson and said that he worked at a nearby LA Fitness facility.
Knighten was still moved by Jackson’s kindness a week later and phoned his place of employment to tell his bosses what a terrific employee he was. “That’s when (the gym manager, Angela Lavinder,) started crying,” Knighten said.
The person who answered the phone began crying as Knighten began to describe her meeting with Jackson.
Knighten was informed by the woman, later identified as Angela Lavinder, that Jackson was murdered when the car he was riding in with two other people veered off the road and struck a tree. The other travelers made it out alive.
“She said it was Matt and my heart just dropped because he had just passed away. It broke my heart because – what a beautiful person,” Knighten said.
Knighten was saddened by the news and wrote about it on Facebook. The post ended up going viral she said:
“I still cannot believe it. I thought for sure I would get the chance to see him again, give him a hug, and thank him at least once more in person. Now I won’t get that chance, but more importantly, no one else will get the chance to meet him. And that breaks my heart.”
She then established social media accounts for the car crash victim dubbed “Matthews legacy” in order to pay forward Jackson’s generosity.
Sources: AWM, Amomama, NBCSandiego
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