Calif. woman honors good Samaritan taken too soon
SAN DIEGO -- With two small children, stay-at-home mother Jamie-Lynne Knighten has her hands full, and it was a recent trip to the grocery store that nearly pushed her to the breaking point when her only credit card was declined.
"I was trying to figure out if I could go home and get my other card, and that's when Matthew stepped up," Knighten said.
Matthew Jackson, a 28-year-old, was in line behind her and offered to pay for her $200 grocery bill -- he refused to take "no" for an answer. But he had one condition: just do it for somebody else.
A few days later Knighten tracked down the good Samaritan to the gym where he told her he worked. She called to thank him and manager Angela Lavinder picked up the phone.
"When she said 'I just wanted the manager to know what kind of a beautiful person they get to work with,' my heart broke and the tears just started coming," Lavinder said.
"She started to cry and she said, 'I'm sorry I have to tell you this, but Matthew passed away,'" Knighten said.
Jackson was killed in a car accident. Ironically it happened performing another good deed -- while driving a co-worker whose car had broken down.
"And I put the dates together and it was the day after I met him," Knighten said. "I was at a complete loss. I wanted to honor this man. I wanted to pay my respects for him and wanted people to know what he did for me."
To honor Jackson, Knighten set up a Facebook page called MatthewsLegacy. It now has more than 10,000 followers and hundreds of stories inspired by Jackson.
They're paying it forward everywhere because of him, because of his story. And you can't put a price on that; you can't put a price on giving hope.
