CARLSBAD, Calif. — A Canadian woman is seeking to honour a man she only met once because he died a day after paying for her groceries in a California grocery store.
Jamie-Lynne Knighten says Matthew Jackson stepped up to pay her $200-bill on Nov. 10 after her credit cards were declined at the cash register.
She says she had money, but she forgot her debit card at home after a sleepless night taking care of her five-month-old son and her credit cards had a hold on them because of a recent trip home to Barrie, Ont.
She knew the man's first name and where he worked — at the gym where she works out — and reached out a week later to thank him.
That's when she found out Jackson had died in a car crash about 24 hours after the two met.
She then wrote a heartfelt post on Facebook explaining the stranger's good deed and started a group, called Matthew's Legacy, as a place to talk about random acts of kindness.
Their story has since gone viral with stories of kindness pouring in on the page from all over the world.
And she has since struck up a friendship with Jackson's mother and they are hoping to come up with something to promote kindness.
"I think deep down Matthew had some Canadian in him, being so kind and all," Knighten said.