A QUICK-thinking Redditch shop-worker has been praised for her efforts in coming to the aid of a distressed autistic boy.
Asda colleague Emma Sanders, who works in the George department, came to the rescue of ten-year-old Oscar who became very distressed after seeing a giant Hallowe’en skeleton at the front of the store.
Jen Goodhand was shopping in the Redditch store when her son Oscar went into a panic, and she believes Emma’s quick-thinking, distraction tactics really saved the day.
“Emma was brilliant,” said Jen. “She was up there with the professionals I’ve worked with.
“Once we were at the rear of the store, he was in a total state of sensory overload and the anxiety of the skeleton became too much for him to cope with. He quite literally went into a state of panic.
“Emma understood that we couldn’t just leave the store – we were trapped as far as Oscar was concerned – and we needed to work to comfort and calm Oscar.”
23-year-old Emma acted quickly and asked Oscar to tell her about some things he liked and when he said he was a fan of Star Wars, she picked up a pair of Star Wars pyjamas and asked him to talk her through the different characters – and Oscar started to calm down.
Mum Jen added: “She seemed to hold a magic key.”
Emma, whose own son Leo is nearly two, said: “I just saw a scared little boy and my motherly instincts kicked in. I tried everything I could think of to calm him down.
“I wanted to distract him from his thoughts and whatever was upsetting him. I just followed my heart.
“He was a lovely little boy, very clever. It was nice to see him calming down.”
After hearing about Oscar’s experience, the sore’s manager Kevin Prince removed the skeleton from the entrance and the Hallowe’en decorations are now confined to just two aisles.
4th Jun, 2026
