A stranger overheard this woman’s call with her counselor and intervened with a day-making act of kindness
The smallest acts of kindness can completely transform the life of a stranger. That’s what one story from Manchester is telling us in the absolute best way. Charlotte Rose Ford, from Manchester, is a university student who’s been having a hard time lately. But recently, a kind anonymous stranger came to her aid, which Charlotte described in a beautiful Facebook post that has since been going viral.
Charlotte was sitting in the students’ union of her university, making a phone call to book a counseling appointment. “Mental health stuff at uni is hard and sometimes I struggle to get my work done to a standard I’m happy with, or I miss deadlines because I’m too distracted by my low mood or I’m too anxious that my work isn’t good enough,” Charlotte wrote, “so I have to ask for mitigating circumstances.”
Charlotte described the phonecall as not “particularly fun,” saying she got “a bit emotional” while explaining her situation to the counselor. “At one point I mentioned the fact that I needed a letter for a mitigating circumstances form, and that I’d been to the doctor but that they would charge me £20 for it, which is money I can’t always spare,” she explained. “I was quite teary talking to the counsellor and when I hung up the phone I pretty much just wanted to go back home to bed rather than to my afternoon lecture!”
After the phone call, Charlotte sat there, messaging one of her friends to see if anyone could come over and talk with her. But then, someone came up to her with a coffee cup and set it in front of her, saying, “This is for you, someone sent it over.”
Inside was £20, along with a note (pictured below) that read, “I hope you don’t mind that I overheard. Just wanted to say don’t worry! I’ve been there, I thought I wouldn’t get through my undergrad and now I’m doing a PhD! This is for the doctor’s note. You’ll get through it!”
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