Woman who paid fellow shopper's £22 bill rewarded with £8,000 painting as a thank you

A woman, 29 year old Pamela Philip, who generously paid a fellow customer’s £22 shopping bill was surprised and shocked when he rewarded her kindness with an £8,000 painting. Philip was shocked when she discovered that the man she helped was a famous “sleepwalking artist”, who was so moved by her random act of kindness he decided to gift her with one of his works of art.


Pamela said she was behind a flustered customer, who had lost his wallet, in the queue at Tesco so decided to help him out by paying his £22 bill for him. She said the man insisted on repaying her for her generosity and convinced her to give him her address.

She gave it to him and forgot all about the incident. However, one month later she received a package in the post. Inside the package was a cheque for £22 and a painting with a certificate of authenticity signed by 41 year old artist Lee Hadwin who only draws when he's asleep but can never draw when awake.

She didn't know who Hadwin was so she decided to investigate. That was when she discovered the man she encountered at Tesco was Mr Hadwin, a professional artist who does all his work while sleeping, and the painting of a red cross on a solid black background is worth £7,850.

She said:

“I still can’t believe it, I’m in shock. I never expected to hear from him again. “When he asked for my address I kept saying ‘no don’t worry about it, it’s nothing’ because £22 is nothing really. “I had forgotten all about it. I think it’s quite a rare thing for people to do these days. 

I gave the money without expecting anything back. “If his shopping had been £100 I wouldn’t have offered, but £22 isn’t much so I was happy to help.”

Source:UK Mirror

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