Woman who fainted at grocery store identifies helpful couple

A local mother who passed out in a grocery store checkout line last week has contacted the mystery couple who graciously stepped in to help.

Kaija Valley was with her three-year-old son at No Frills when her blood sugar levels suddenly dropped, causing her to faint.

Fourteen weeks pregnant, Valley received immediate assistance from the couple who was standing behind her in line. The woman ran to get her an orange juice, while the man grabbed a granola bar from his cart and distracted Valley’s son.

The couple then got the mother and son situated on a nearby bench while they bagged up their groceries for them.

Determined to locate the couple and thank them for their act of kindness, Valley posted her experience on Facebook’s "Keeping the Soo Safe.”

Hours after SooToday shared Valley's story last Sunday, the mystery couple came forward and sent the grateful mom a message.

“I told the couple that that my husband and I wanted to give them a little token of gratitude, like a gift card for a nice meal,” Valley said. “But she declined and asked we purchase something for our son for being so brave. So, we’re going to do that instead. They’re very wonderful people.”

“I got the impression they’d like to stay anonymous,” she added. “I haven’t even told my family who they are. But they said the gratitude and appreciation we had for them was good enough. It was really nice.”

What started as a scary experience, Valley has been impressed by the number of positives that have come from the grocery store incident, including an education piece that she wasn’t expecting.

“When I was reading through the comments, there was a lot of different feedback, like chocolates aren’t actually as good for low blood sugar – eat skittles instead,” she said. “Or go to the pharmacy and get the diabetic candy drops, as another example.”

“There was just so much education and support towards it, so I found that to be really good during the days afterwards and even now,” she added. “People are very supportive.”