Charlie from Asda Dewsbury goes out his way to find water bottle for seven-year-old Leia

Seven-year-old Leia Bentley loves the cat water bottle her parents got her from Asda Dewsbury so much that it's the only thing she'll drink out of – so when it was time to get a replacement after it had been well used they were fearing the worst when they heard it had been discontinued.

Leia has Down's Syndrome, is autistic and non verbal, and loves drinking from the Contigo bottle as it has a pop-up straw that's easy for her to use. Her parents Laura and Jon contacted the manufacturer directly without luck, before telling our colleague Charlie Sales-Blay about their plight.

He said he'd do everything he could to help. He searched the store warehouse, looked in other Asda stores in the area and even searched the internet. He'd all but given up when he found a cardboard box in a store room with the exact bottle he wanted inside!

Unfortunately, he didn't have Laura and Jon's contact details so he put a plea out on the Dewsbury Matters group on Facebook asking them to get in touch... and they did 10 minutes later.

Charlie, who's 30 and is a home and leisure team leader, said: "When Laura came in and told me the story about Leia and the water bottle I knew I had to help and find her one. 

"I looked everywhere for her but there weren't any anywhere, and then a week later I found one in a random box. It had birthday banners in it and on the top was one of those water bottles. I couldn't believe it. 

“I put a plea out on Facebook and they came in for it and they were really grateful. I'm just glad I was able to help."

Laura said: "We've tried lots of water bottles for Leia, but she's only comfortable with the Contigo one with the cat on as she can suck out of it better than other bottles.

"When we found out that they'd been discontinued we thought 'oh no'. Leia goes through them a lot as she chews them. We got in touch the company who makes them but they couldn't help. 

"We couldn't believe that Charlie managed to find one for us. He went above and beyond for us. We can't thank him enough."

Charlie, who''s worked at the store for four years, has been nominated for an Asda service superstar award for his kindness.