Doron Salomon recently took to social media to praise a local London grocery chain because of the great compassion, kindness, and respect they showed his ailing mother. Doron’s mom, a former bookkeeper, became an employee with Sainsbury’s after a diagnosis of early onset of Alzheimer’s Syndrome in her early fifties made her leave her preferred profession.

For ten years the woman went to work at the grocer as a picker – someone who fulfills online orders – and enjoyed the purpose her job gave her. For years she was able to do this job with little oversight from others, but as time passed, she began to forget how to do her job.

Soon she was unable to do her job without continuous help from fellow employees. Doron and his father always worked with the management of the Kenton store and kept them updated on her medical condition when the store noticed a marked difference in her health; they called Doron and his father in for a meeting.

Rather than fire her, Sainsbury’s retrained her, changed her hours, trained other staff on how to work with her and eventually changed her role so she could continue to work as long as possible. When the other symptoms of Alzheimer’s appeared – such as disorientation, mood swings, loss of language, and increased tiredness to name a few – the store and her family knew it was time to let her go.

Doron’s gratitude is evident in his posts.

“Sainsbury’s have seen my mum deteriorate to the point that every day for the last year or so she has gone into the store confused as if she’d never been there before. They have always stood by her, going above and beyond to make sure she’s happy and feeling valued.”

The store aided the family as much as they could to make her transition from the store a smooth one. They kept her dignity and honored her as a human.

We applaud this company and pray for Doron’s family as they transition into the next phase of life with Alzheimer’s.