A critical care nurse has made an emotional plea to panic buyers, after she was confronted with an empty supermarket after a long shift. The exhausted nurse had just finished a 48-hour shift when she tried to get a bit of shopping in. Dawn Bilbrough, from York, took to social media to call out stockpilers and panic buyers, after she couldn’t even find basic items like fruit and veg.
Critical care nurse Dawn has pleaded for the public to "stop it" after being faced with empty supermarket shelves following a 48-hour shift. pic.twitter.com/1sQHM2U5Ba
Dawn says in the video: “I had a little cry in there. I’m a critical care nurse and I’ve just finished 48 hours of work. I just wanted to get some stuff in for the next 48 hours.
“There’s no fruit, there’s no vegetables – I just don’t know how I’m supposed to stay healthy. And those people…people are just stripping the shelves of basic foods.
“You just need to stop it because people like me that are going to be looking after you when you’re at your lowest so just stop it, please.”
BBC Yorkshire / Twitter
The emotional video was shared by the BBC Yorkshire Twitter account, where it struck a chord with people online, and started a debate.
One person wrote: “This lady is exhausted! STOP BUYING FOR THE SAKE OF IT PEOPLE!!”
While another added: “I think people like Dawn ought to be able to get special help from Supermarkets, possible via store managers, if necessary being served out of the stock room.”
BBC Yorkshire responded with an update, writing: “Dawn has been overwhelmed by everyone’s kindness. She now has food and is OK. Thank you for all your calls, comments and messages of support.”
Thank you for everything you’re doing for us, Dawn! You deserve better.