A San Diego woman is doing her best to honor a man she barely knew after learning he died a day after helping her out in a big way.
In November 2015, Jamie-Lynne Knighten met Matthew Jackson in line at Trader Joe’s grocery store when her 5-month-old son began throwing a fit.
The mother’s credit card was declined due to an anti-fraud protection from her bank put in place because she had just been traveling abroad.
With a line of people waiting behind her, no way to pay for the groceries, and her baby continuing to cry, Matthew Jackson stepped in and helped her out — he picked up her entire $200 grocery tab.
Jackson stepped in while waiting behind her in line and said, “May I? May I take care of your groceries?” Knighten told KNSD.
Jackson only asked for one thing ins return.
“As long as you promise to do it for somebody else,” he told the mother.
Days later, Knighten kept thinking about the generous man who helped her out. She remembered he told her that he worked at the LA Fitness Gym, so she called asked the manager if she could bring him a gift. That’s when she got some terrible news.
According to the Los Angeles Times, the gym manager told Knighten that Jackson was killed in a car accident the day after she met him, when he hit a tree with his car, not far from the store where they met.
“I still cannot believe it,” Knighten wrote on Facebook. “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.”
After sharing on Facebook, friends and family commented on Knighten’s post and said they would be paying it forward in honor of Jackson’s legacy.
Knighten continues to honor Jackson by paying it forward herself and encouraging others to do the same.