True Christmas spirit: Mystery woman's simple act of kindness in a Derbyshire nail salon

Katrina Proctor’s post on Facebook said “I didn’t know this lady. I’ve never spoken to this lady… I just want to say thank you! That is the nicest thing anyone has done for me in a long time!”

The kind gesture happened at Saigon Nails in Bolsover, and the story is one of true Christmas spirit.

The mystery woman, the Derbyshire Times has tracked down, is Hazel Haye, 55, who also lives in Bolsover, and just happened to be having her nails done at the same time as Katrina.

When asked what happened, the very humble Hazel laughs, and says “Well, I didn’t do it for the publicity… I just thought I’ve got a tenner in my purse, you can have it!”

Hazel added: “We were sat back to back. She asked her daughter to go to the charity shop to fetch a jumper she’d put behind the counter, because she didn’t have the cash on her to pay for it. So her daughter went out… came back, and said ‘Mum, your card won’t work!’”

“And as she was talking, the man doing her nails said ‘We haven’t seen you in here before’, and she said ‘I have been in here before, but I don’t very often get my nails done because I can’t afford it’. She said it was a treat for Christmas.”

Hazel explains that Katrina realised she would have to go home and fetch her other bank card.

“And she said ‘I’ll leave my bag and phone’. And all this time I’m just having my nails done, minding my business, and I just thought to myself, you know what, I’m paying for my nails and I said ‘Can you take ten pounds towards that lady’s nails?’ And he said ‘You don’t have to do that’, and I said ‘I know I don’t, but I’d like to’.”

“And he said ‘Would you like to leave your name?’ And I said ‘No… I couldn’t even tell you what she looked like… I didn’t even turn around to look at her’.”

“And I thought, you know what… I’ve got an extra tenner in my purse, and if I’d got more I’d have probably paid for them!”

Hazel laughs, says “I started telling my husband about it, and he folded his arms, looked at me and said ‘Oh, what have you done now? How much has it cost me?’”

“And then I picked my phone up, and it literally just came up on Bolsover Opinions… and I went ‘Oh my God, read this!’”

This is where Hazel contacts Katrina, via private message. To which Katrina responded: ‘That was amazing, you made me cry’.”

You can hear the emotion in Hazel’s voice as she tells this.

“I just said ‘Enjoy your nails… Happy Christmas’.”

Hazel helps her son Ben, 34, with his business, Dudley’s Natural Doggy Treats. Based in Bolsover, their focus is on the local area, doing what they can to support charity organisations.

Ben said: “I think the true meaning to life is to give and to help. So wherever possible, we give where we can. My mum will always do anything for anyone.”

And this simple act of kindness, in a Bolsover nail salon, says it all.