Kieran loves working alongside grandma who brought him up ... and whose life he saved

Happy Mother’s Day to all mums and grandmas – including bakery colleague Suzanne Dale who works alongside her 18-year-old grandson Kieron Dale in our Benton store and who's helped raise him since he was a baby.

And 62-year-old Suzanne – who's worked at the store for 22 years – wouldn't be here today if it wasn't for Kieron's quick-thinking and intuition.

When she didn't pick up his phone calls one day back in 2024 he knew something was wrong so rushed home only to find her collapsed in the bathroom. She'd developed sepsis and if Kieron hadn't come home and raised the alarm when he did she could have died.

Suzanne, who's been married to Gary for 34 years, was on her own at home when it happened. She said: "I'd gone home from work and I was just feeling cold. I can't remember much about it, only that Kieron found me and called for an ambulance. They took me to Cramlington Hospital and I was in critical care for 12 days. If he hadn't have come in when he did I wouldn't be here today; even the doctors said that."

She says she loves working in the same store as Kieron, who's been a home shopping picker for two years.

"I don't see a lot of him at work because of our shifts, but when I do it's so nice," said Suzanne. "I'm always there if he needs me. He's such a lovely lad; dead polite – he's a good 'un. Although I'm his grandma he treats me like a mum."

Kieron, who's also studying business at the Newcastle College University College, said: "I've always been with my nanna since I was born, she's lovely. She's my nanna but also a mam too. It's nice working at the same place as Nanna, a lot of the colleagues here know we are related. It's a very friendly store."

On saving his Nanna's life, he said: "I tried phoning her and she wasn't answering. She's always glued to her phone, so I knew something was wrong there. She always answers, so I thought 'right I'm going over'. I saw the dog at the front door and she ran towards the bathroom and that's where I found Nanna passed out. I called 999, checked her pulse and her airways and did everything they told me to do on the phone."

Store manager Emma Frostick says everyone in the store loves working with Suzanne and Kieron. She said: "Not only does he look up to her at home as she brought him up, but also at work as he followed in her footsteps. It’s a family affair here at Asda Benton."