'You Are an ANGEL': Delivery Woman Recounts Life-Saving Trip to Man's Home in Emotional Video Instacart worker Jessica Higgs had a gut feeling something was wrong when she showed up to one of her customer's homes.
By Emily Rella Edited by Amanda Breen
Opinions expressed by Entrepreneur contributors are their own.
Sometimes rules are meant to be broken, and when they are, it can save a life.
A viral, highly emotional video is making its rounds after an Instacart grocery delivery employee shared her story about one of her recent trips to a customer's home.
"I just want to start this off by saying, if you see something, say something. I did an Instacart order yesterday and I'm a little emotional right now … It was a daughter ordering for her older dad that couldn't shop for himself," Instacart employee Jessica Higgs explained as she started her confessional from the front seat of her car.
Higgs explained that she shopped for the items, going the "extra mile" for the customer by even checking the back for certain items. She said that the daughter told her to just leave the groceries on the porch (as is Instacart's policy) and that her dad would come out and get them.
But when she arrived at the home, her gut told her something was awry, and she offered to help the man by bringing the groceries inside the house for him.
Related: Viral Video Shows Workers Not Taking Deliveries Without Tips, Sparks Debate
"You're not supposed to go inside someone's house. But I used my judgment and I brought the groceries inside. I put them down wherever he wanted me to put them — you're not supposed to do that, but I did. And you're just supposed to take a picture and leave. And I could not just leave," she said emotionally.
The employee said she then messaged the man's daughter back on the Instacart app because she "very concerned" that her dad looked ill, explaining that she hadn't selected that the order was complete yet because it would shut off the messaging feature between the two women.
At the risk of being "unprofessional," Higgs disclosed what she thought was going on.
"I never talk — I always just put the groceries down and leave but this time, for whatever [reason] my head was like "You gotta say something,'" Higgs said. "So I said, "he's not doing good. He's sick. There's a propane tank in there. I was in there, maybe five feet and I got dizzy.'"
@jessicahiggs3 @Instacart #28DaysOfEucerin #fyp ♬ original sound - Jessica Higgs
She suggested that there might be a propane leak and that this could be the cause of the woman's father's condition.
Then the remarkable happened.
The woman, heeding Higgs' advice, sent her son to go check on the home and her father. Higgs noticed her tip change from $10 to $100 alongside a message that read: "Thank you so much, once my son went to check on my dad it turned out it definitely was leaking, you definitely saved my dad and younger son's life!!!"
Related: Viral Video Exposes Difference in Starbucks Workers' Salaries
The video has received over 2.8 million views and over 68,400 comments praising the Instacart employee for listening to her instincts and for being a "hero."
"You are NOT just an Instacart worker," one user wrote. "You are an ANGEL."
"This is absolutely amazing," another wrote emotionally. "The world is still full of good people and you, my friend, are among the best."
Higgs updated viewers late Wednesday afternoon in the comment section that the CEO of Instacart had reached out to her following the heroic incident.
"That being said, I'm just an Instacart worker," Higgs signed off. "But if you see something, say something and I did. I'm so happy I did. And I'm so happy that he can live a better life."
