An Asda delivery driver in Poole, Dorset, England, trusted his God-given instinct to check on a customer who wasn’t answering her door and ended up saving her life.
Most of us have felt that nudge to check on someone or do something extra. When we listen to these prompts, we often discover they come at exactly the right time. God works through these moments, placing us where we need to be when others need help.
Leandro Pinto Dantas, 36, was making his evening deliveries for Asda in Poole when he arrived at a customer’s home around 9:00 pm. The lights were on, and he could hear the television playing inside. When no one answered his knocks or phone calls, he first thought the customer had stepped out.
“I knocked on the door but didn’t get an answer, so I called the contact number we had for the delivery but got no reply,” Leandro explained. “I thought at first they must have gone out.”
He started to leave but stopped. Something felt wrong. “I believe God made me go back to the window,” he said. “I pushed some branches away, so I could get a better look, and that’s when I saw the lady face down on the floor.”
Leandro called emergency services right away. Paramedics found the woman, in her 60s, suffering from dangerously low blood sugar levels. They gave her glucose immediately to raise her blood sugar.
“I don’t remember much of what happened,” the woman later said, “only that I had a hypo [hypoglycemia] and I came round with a paramedic giving me glucose to get my blood sugars up.”
Her condition was serious enough that paramedics took her to the hospital. Her blood pressure needed monitoring, but doctors stabilized her, and she went home the next day.
What makes this story more remarkable is that Leandro wasn’t supposed to work that evening. He had swapped shifts with another driver at the last minute.
“I’m just happy that I was there and saved her.” Leandro said.
While paramedics helped the woman, Leandro put away her groceries so her food wouldn’t spoil. After she went to the hospital, he finished his remaining deliveries.
A few days later, Leandro visited the woman at home with flowers to check on her. This touched the customer deeply. She wrote a thank you letter to the local newspaper, the Bournemouth Echo.
“Leandro is such a wonderful chap,” she wrote. “I can’t thank him enough. He did a marvelous job… certainly going above and beyond what I would expect supermarket delivery drivers to do. He even came round later with flowers for me.”
Heidi Mallinson, Asda’s online trading manager, praised Leandro’s actions. “We are so very proud of the way he handled the delivery and his instinct that something was amiss,” she said. “He truly is a hero and went totally above and beyond, which in turn probably saved the customer’s life.”
Asda has nominated Leandro for their Service Superstar award for his lifesaving intervention.
For Leandro, the award seems less important than knowing he helped someone. “I’m just happy that I was able to help and save her,” he said.
For people with diabetes, low blood sugar episodes can become dangerous fast if not treated quickly. Had Leandro left without checking more carefully, the outcome might have been very different.
The most powerful part of this story is how Leandro listened to that inner voice. He could have reasonably left when no one answered. He had other deliveries waiting. But he listened when God prompted him to look again.
God places us exactly where we need to be to help others. Those small nudges to check on someone or go the extra mile could be God speaking to us. Listen to these prompts. Your simple act of care might be the answer to someone’s prayer today.
