A FAST food worker full of festive spirit dished up some regular fries at a highly irregular time to save Christmas for an autistic youngster.
Louise Cowan (20) kindly came in for a very special lunch-time shift at McDonald's Restaurant, near the Earlsgate Roundabout, Grangemouth, on Christmas Day to ensure that six-year-old Fraser Gibson enjoyed his Christmas dinner.
Fraser, of Lawers Crescent, Polmont, is severely autistic and has a very restricted diet – he will only eat McDonald's fries and has them twice a day, at lunch-time and tea-time. He will only eat his fries at home, so parents Jim and Karen take him to the drive-through twice a day.
McDonald's shuts on Christmas Day however, and the Gibsons feared that their son would miss out on his order of fries.
In 2003 the Gibsons bought Fraser's fries on Christmas Eve and re-heated them the next day. Unfortunately Fraser would not eat them because he had not gone through his regular routine of visiting the drive-through first.
This year the Gibsons were taking no chances and, along with Louise, went to extraordinary lengths to ensure their son got his Christmas dinner.
"It saved our Christmas," said Jim. "I really can't thank Louise enough because the wee guy wouldn't have had anything at all to eat over Christmas if it hadn't been for her."
Louise, from Falkirk, has got to know Fraser and his family quite well in the nine months she has worked at McDonald's and was glad to help. She believes that the drive-through is perfect for the autistic youngster, who does not like to meet too many people at one time.
She said: "There are only two people that Fraser has to deal with when he uses the drive-through, the person who takes the money and the person who gives him his fries."
And on Christmas Day that person was Louise.
Karen said: "Louise got to know us because we'd come in regularly for Fraser's fries – she even gave us a Christmas card with our order of 'two large fries' written in it.
"We explained our worries about Christmas to her and she said she would come down and serve Fraser if it made things easier for us. She said she couldn't have enjoyed her Christmas knowing that the wee fella was hungry."
The Gibsons bought Fraser's fries on Christmas Eve and then got in the car and headed for a rendezvous with Louise at the closed down McDonald's on Christmas Day. Karen then gave the fries to Louise to simulate the routine that Fraser has come to know so well.
She said: "We went along and spoke to the window of the drive-through as if there were people there and Louise pretended to give us the fries."
The plan worked – Fraser ate every last chip – and the Gibson's thanked Louise for going above and beyond the call of duty for their son.
"To us, as parents, this is the best gift anyone could have given," said Karen. "Louise is a real diamond for doing this."

james.trimble@falkirkherald.co.uk