Good Samaritan supermart man lends a super helping hand

Last week, an everyday act by a young man had an extraordinary response from social media users. Sule Skerritt, a 21-year-old supermarket attendant and radio DJ, was photographed helping an elderly woman with her groceries.

Skerritt walked with the customer from his workplace at Hi-Lo, French Street, Woodbrook, to Alberto Street, several blocks away. Metro magazine photographer David Wears took a picture and posted it on Facebook, which resulted in the story being shared over 400 times. People were amazed and complimented Skerritt on his good deed. Skerritt, who lives in Belmont and has worked at Hi-Lo for almost three years, is also amazed at the response from the public.

“A lot of people congratulated me and said they were proud. I just think it’s amazing that it got so much attention. This is something we do every day and the fact that so many people were astonished by it says a lot about how much people have lost hope,” Skerritt said in an interview.

“I am still thinking about the comments and about how people saying I gave them hope. But this is something I do every day.”

Skerritt said the distance he had walked to drop off groceries for the customer was one of the furthest he had walked since he started working at the supermarket.

“I didn’t know how far she was going. I had packed the groceries and asked her if she needed help and she said she was going to Alberto Street. I didn’t know how far away it was, but her bags were heavy, so I took them and walked with her.” Hi-Lo responded to the praise for its employee in a Facebook post last week. It read: “When Sule Skerritt picked up the shopping bags of an elderly customer a few days ago, little did he know that he would become a social media icon. As a matter of fact, neither did we, at Hi-Lo.

“The commentary from members of the public has been very positive, especially in light of the many recent negative stories in the media. Of course, we're not really surprised that Sule did what he did—it's all in a normal day's work for him and all his fellow associates on the Hi-Lo team. In fact, this is a fine example of the values that we encourage in all our Hi-Lo Associates, through our ‘I’m A Star’ Programme."

“Hi-Lo congratulates Sule Skerritt, for rising to the occasion (as usual!). We’re proud of you.”