THE Barnsley community came together last week to support a struggling family who were in need of specific baby wipes for their disabled child.

Victoria Roe, of Roy Kilner Road, Wombwell, made a plea to the public to stop being selfish in supermarkets following the rise in panic buying after the coronavirus outbreak.

Her six-year-old son, Riley, who was born 12 weeks early weighing 3lb 1oz, is reliant on the same brand of baby wipes from Tesco.

Riley usually carries the wipes everywhere, and uses them as comfort while he is out and about in public, but following the scarce number available in stores, Victoria and her family began to worry.

Victoria, 35, told the Chronicle: “Riley was born prematurely and suffered a brain haemorrhage, leaving him unable to suck.

“Since I can remember I’ve used the same baby wipes – Riley snatched one out of my hand when he was younger, leaving him obsessed.

“He uses them as a comfort blanket, but as soon as the wipe becomes dry he needs a new one.”

After posting her fears on social media, Victoria was inundated with offers to deliver the wipes to her home free of charge.

She even received a call from a Tesco store in Wath, who told her that every member of staff had bought a packet of wipes for her.

“I go through about seven packets a week and without them I really start to panic.

“I posted on social media in hope that someone would be able to sell me some of the wipes that I needed, but I could never have imagined the response I received.

“I was offered the wipes from people across South Yorkshire and then Tesco called, saying their staff members had each bought me a packet to help us out.”

Victoria has two more children who are both disabled, Emma who is seven, and 13-year-old Liam, meaning shopping for the family at the moment is extremely hectic.

She said: “It’s really hard to pick up even the bare essentials at the minute with everybody panic buying, and with three disabled children in the house, the limit on what I can get means we’re struggling.

“I can understand that people are self-isolating and need to pick up certain items, but if we stick to what we need then there would be no shortages in food.

“Even at Christmas we don’t have any problem getting everything we need, the people who are panic buying are selfish.”