It was just a normal day of work for Jessica Higgs, an Instacart shopper, until she suddenly and unexpectedly had to act on her intuition. Her simple act of following her gut instinct saved the lives of an elderly man and young boy and made her an international hero.
Jessica explained the whole story in a TikTok video that quickly went viral.
The day before, she said that a customer placed an order for her older dad who couldn’t shop for himself. All was going as usual until it was time to deliver the groceries.
“I got there and something was telling me, ‘You’ve got to help this man out,” she said in the video. “You’re not supposed to go inside someone’s house, but I used my judgment and I brought the groceries inside.”
Entering the house, she sensed that something was wrong. The man did not seem to be doing okay, and Jessica felt strangely dizzy when she walked inside.
"You gotta say something. You gotta say something, Jess," she thought.
Usually, she would mark the Instacart order as complete and go on her way. But instead, she messaged the man’s daughter to tell her that something seemed off.
"There's a propane tank in there," she told the woman. "I was in there maybe five feet and I got dizzy. There's got to be a leak. He might not be doing good because of this leak."
The woman said she would send her son to check it out and Jessica left. The woman changed her tip from $14 to $100 and sent a message the next day that confirmed Jessica’s instincts.
"Thank you so much,” she wrote. “Once my son went to check on my dad it turned out it was definitely leaking. You definitely saved my dad and my younger son's life!!!"
Jessica is now being hailed as a hero. Her video has been viewed over 15 million times by people all over the world. Companies have reached out to reward her: Royal Caribbean Cruises offered her and her family a 7-day cruise anywhere in the world, while Old Navy arranged a shopping spree for her.
Her story reveals how ordinary people can act heroically. Jessica shows us how it’s done: She paid attention, trusted her intuition, and spoke up to help someone in need.
Jessica said through tears, "I'm just an Instacart worker, but if you see something, say something. I did and I'm so happy I did."
But she’s not “just” an Instacart worker. Her work has dignity and worth. And if she hadn’t been doing it, two people might not be alive today.
Most of all, Jessica is a woman with a compassionate heart and courageous voice. Hopefully her gentle reminder, “If you see something, say something,” will inspire others to their own acts of heroism.
