Diane Bennett expected to pick up two simple cakes from Walmart. She did not expect a stranger’s kindness to stop her in her tracks.

Bennett, from Greenfield, New York, has been undergoing treatment at New York Oncology Hematology for stage 3 breast cancer. As her final chemotherapy session approached, she decided to bring two cakes to thank the staff who had cared for her. The total came to about $50.

When she arrived at the bakery to collect them, something didn’t add up. “I came in to pick them up, and I got them, and I walked away from a very nice bakery lady. And then I realized they said ‘paid’ and ‘congratulations,’ ” Bennett told CBS6.

Confused, she walked back to the counter to clarify.

“I said, ‘I didn’t pay for these.’ And she said, ‘Well, someone else paid for them, so they’re paid,’ ” Bennett recalled.

Days later, returning with a local news crew, she learned the truth: a Walmart employee had quietly covered the full cost. The worker didn’t want credit or recognition. She simply wanted Bennett to have one less thing to worry about on a day that already carried so much weight.

Bennett said she hugged the employee, nearly cried, and walked away overwhelmed. “The cakes were $50, so it was quite a significant gift from somebody.”

For Bennett, who hasn’t been working during treatment, the gesture landed deeply. “I have stage 3 breast cancer, and I haven’t been working,” she said. “So her doing that was just an amazing blessing for me.”

Her treatment continues next with surgery and six weeks of radiation, but she’s carrying the kindness with her. The unexpected gift, she said, has already changed how she wants to move through the world.

“I always go out of my way for people. Very rarely do I receive it, but when I do, I make sure that I thank it,” she said. Now, she plans to pay that feeling forward.