A wacky grandson has become an internet hit after he took his gran shopping for the first time in 16 months while wearing a giant DINOSAUR costume.
Samuel Hutchison, 32, wanted a unique way to keep his gran safe while cheering her up at the same time following more than a year shielding during the pandemic.
So he decided to don an enormous Tyrannosaurus Rex outfit while they went shopping at a Sainsbury’s in Southampton last week.
Comical footage shows Samuel pushing a trolley along while browsing the supermarket aisles with gran Mary Jackson, 84, on Thursday (15/7).
The hilarious clip has since been viewed tens of thousands of times since it was uploaded to social media by Samuel’s 62-year-old mum Wendy.
Samuel, who works for Nestle and lives in South Derbyshire, said: “My mum started filming me because she thought it was so funny.
“I’m 6”5’ and the suit is probably two times that, at least 12 feet tall, so it was a struggle trying not to knock the shelves over.
“Security let me in and didn’t tackle me so that was a win.
“When I said thanks to him the next day he said it wasn’t a problem and laughed but he did think it was bizarre.
“I put the suit on in the car park and had it on in the shop for 45 minutes.
“At first mum and nan were trying to hide from me but eventually gave up and went along with it.”
Samuel travelled down to his grandparents earlier in the day having not seen them since February last year because of coronavirus.
He added: “I had just passed my bike test and had framed a picture of me with my certificate for them.
“I wanted to celebrate that and seeing them again so I started looking online for costumes with my mum.
“When we saw the dinosaur we both said ‘that’s the one’ and bought it for £30 from Amazon.
“We got down to Southampton and my mum and sister went in, but I stayed outside and put the suit so I didn’t scare the living daylights out of them.
“My mum said there was a delivery for my nan and she said she hadn’t ordered anything but went downstairs and saw me with the suit on.
“I held out the picture I’d framed for her and she went ‘Samuel?’ and gave me a big hug.
“Her face lit up, she looked delighted, like seeing someone who had been away at war for ten years.
“It was emotional and really nice, it really lifted their spirits.
“It had been tough not seeing them for a year to keep them safe and only speaking on the phone.
“My granddad has thrombosis and we don’t know how long he has to live, so I feel I did my part by cheering him up.”
Samuel said his granddad Colin, 85, thought the outfit was so funny he dared him to wear it shopping.
Samuel added: “My family has a great sense of humour and we like to do jokes like this.
“I only had it on for five minutes at their flat but it has low ceilings so I was bent over double trying not to hit the chandeliers.”
Police spotted Samuel as he walked out of the supermarket and he said he thought he was in trouble as they approached.
He said: “My first thought was to get into our car because I thought they might tackle or taser me.
“They asked me what was I was doing and I told them it was for my nan.
“They said it was a really nice story.
“After I posted the video on Facebook a lot of my friends thought it was great.
“Now it has gone viral which was the last thing I was expecting, it was just a small joke for my nan and now it’s a big thing.”
Hampshire Police also shared the sighting of Stuart on their Facebook page and wrote: “Spotted this T-Rex in Sainsbury’s doing his weekly shop.
“Stopped him for a chat and inside the suit was Sam and a lovely story.
“Sam hasn’t seen his Grandparents in over a year, due to Covid 19. Sam went to meet them in his T-Rex suit.
“They didn’t know it was him, and were over the moon to find him under the suit! What a lovely idea.”
