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Original poster

Rescued Today By a Man. Feeling very grateful

362 replies

NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 12/02/2026 17:36

I have a reliable little car (had for 7 years old) and it has never given me any trouble. A few weeks ago I thought it was taking longer to start than usual and thought I better take it into kwik fit to get checked but then it seemed to be starting fine again and I have to admit it slipped down my priority list.

Today the battery died on me while I was out with the dog and had a full shop in the boot (with frozen stuff). In the interest of cutting costs/saving money I cancelled my green flag membership a few years ago. Mainly because I only drive about in our local town and hardly ever do long journeys now and also because up to now I've never had a days bother with my car.

Obviously I was regretting that today. I was sitting in my car helplessly trying to start it for 5 mins and coming to the conclusion I was probably going to have to phone up the AA and get charged a huge fee to join and get jump started.

I then realised the man at the next car along was talking to the shop worker and asking if he had jump leads to try and help me. I was so touched to realise this complete stranger was taking it upon himself to help me when I hadn't even asked.

Anyway shop worker said they weren't allowed to give us jump leads due to insurance but they sold them in shop. Shit - I had no money with me as I had just popped down to collect shopping (done online all paid for). Stranger Man was on phone to his mum asking how much jump leads were in Tesco and they were £15. He then went into shop and bought jump leads and insisted I take them home with me. That was after he used them to start my car. He had already diagnosed the problem while we were waiting.

I came home and cried because I couldn't believe how kind this man had been (I'm in my fifties and overweight, so not some hot young thing).

So if you are married to a train driver from Fife who shops at Tesco (his wife was a train driver too he said) your husband was my hero today. I'm back home now and of course will be taking out an AA membership before driving anywhere and also going to kwik fit to get the battery changed asap.

The man was also with his two young children and so it was not convenient for him to help me as he had to look after them and he had just collected his own shop too.

We read on here bad things about people all the time and I have to say I never expect kindness from strangers. So for all those that have lost faith in men (or people) this is my story for you.

Meanwhile I pledge to play it forward and help out someone just for the sake of it.

So Mr Train Driver from Fife. At Tesco's today at 4pm - thank you very much.

Anyone else like to share a nice story about help from a stranger

OP posts:
Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 09:42

571 likes/flowers on the opening post. How lovely that so many people have read this and given this kind man a vote of approval. To me he really was my hero that night.

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Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 09:45

Arcticienne · 13/02/2026 18:10

Lovely tale, thank you for taking the time to share. All you have to do now (apart from getting a new battery) is stick to your pledge and look out for opportunities to do someone a good turn. Money makes the world go round … but it’s love which oils the wheels.

Oh don't worry. New battery was done yesteday. Breakdown service joined on Friday. A whole bunch of goodwill towards my fellow man in my heart and I will definately pay it forward.

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Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 09:48

Anxietyspiral · 14/02/2026 20:37

Aww, thats nice to read! Years ago I was buying a multipack of apple juice cartons in Co op with young dc. The ones I picked up were the last ones on the shelf but had no bar code, so the staff told me to just scan an orange juice pack then return them to the shelf. A random man saw me put them back on the shelf and leave with dc following behind. A minute later he came running up the road and handed me the orange juices he just bought as he thought I had put them back because I couldn't afford them 🥺 they only cost a few pounds but I thought it was such a kind gesture.

gosh so many lovely stories of human kindness. Very touching.

OP posts:

Interested in this thread?

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Driving & parking
Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 09:53

CarlaLemarchant · 14/02/2026 05:59

When my mum who was in her 70s at the time was in the very early stages of dementia, well before diagnosis, and before we’d realised what was going on, she started to struggle to find her way home when driving and masked it by saying she kept getting caught in diversions.

One evening, she was driving home in the dark and must have got hopelessly lost, she parked up and was getting panicked when a man and his adult son saw her and stopped to help. She told them where she needed to get to and they told her to follow them and guided her back to where she needed to be before heading back on their original journey.

I’ll never have a clue who those men are but I was so grateful to them for looking after my mum.

My own mum when she was still alive started to get herself lost when she went out (she had vascular dementia I think by that time). She had lived in the same village for twenty years and she was getting lost after going to the charity shops and walking home. A nice couple helped her and took her home and then I got contacted (I can't remember how this happened). Anyway I was always very grateful to them and my mum went into a nursing home not long after.

Another time I had taken her to a hospital appointment and she couldn't walk the distance from the car park to the front door so I dropped her off at the front door and told her to wait there and not move. Course she got herself in a state and when I got back from parking the car some nice woman had found her a wheelchair and was keeping her company till I arrived. She said her own mum was in a similar state so she knew how it felt.

Lovely that you mum got help too.

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Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 09:55

Rosieposie7373 · 14/02/2026 19:29

Post your message direct to here… on fife jammers on Facebook

Show quote history

Lots of people suggesting Fife Jammers but I don't want to invade the guys privacy plus I would be identifiable from my facebook account as well.

I guess mumsnet is private so I have been able to say it all here. If he has a wife and a mum then perhaps it will get back to him anyway.

I thanked him many (many) times anyway. He probably thought I was slightly mad.

Meanwhile so many lovely stories that are being shared here.

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Talkingtomyhouseplants · 15/02/2026 10:00

Lovely OP. It’s so distressing when you get into a car situation and you feel at a loss of what to do. It happened to me a few weeks ago with a flat tyre when I managed to get it to a garage but none of the pumps were working. Someone saved me with their foot pump and let me keep it in case I got into more trouble.

Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:07

Spiderx · 14/02/2026 20:50

Hey, less of the 'surprise' . Some of us blokes are just ordinary human beings too !! My brother was not long leaving the port of Newcastle ( returning from a trip to Norway on his motorbike ) when he pulled into a layby to check on his route home . A few seconds later a car pulled in with the flappy rubber sound of a flat tyre. A well dressed couple got out of the car and looked forlornly at the flat tyre...they hadn't a clue how to fix it and they were in their posh clothes on the way to a wedding . My bro approached and asked if he could help. The couple were shocked and amazed a ' motorcyclist' would do that ! 10 minutes later my brother had fitted the spare tyre and they were on their way. The phrase 'books and covers' springs to mind !

Show quote history

I have had dealings with bikers a few times and have to say there were lovely gentle, kind people and not at all how I imagined them to be . So you are totally right about 'book' and 'covers'. One of the most unkind, dismissive men I dated was a policeman and that was completely at odds to my perception of 'kind, protective policeman'. In fact come to think of it he was the only unkind man I ever dated and that really shocked me that I got him so wrong from my perception of what he would be like. I trusted him far quicker than I normally do with dates (again because of the perception that he was 'safe') and he totally took advantage of that. Anyway back to all the nice men of the world...........

I do think we sometimes don't give men the credit they deserve. We do hear all the horror stories and it makes us wary. This thread has reminded us all of all the good men in the world.

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Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:10

Talkingtomyhouseplants · 15/02/2026 10:00

Lovely OP. It’s so distressing when you get into a car situation and you feel at a loss of what to do. It happened to me a few weeks ago with a flat tyre when I managed to get it to a garage but none of the pumps were working. Someone saved me with their foot pump and let me keep it in case I got into more trouble.

It really is! Funny how little it takes to go from 'independent woman' to 'helpless damsel in distress'

Glad you got help. I have a little tyre inflator in my boot and it's one job I do know how to do and could help someone with. A man at halfords (employee) had to show me how to work it although from memory it was a stranger (man) who pointed it out to me in the car park as I parked up that my tyre was looking flat. So another good deed by a man albeit on a lesser scale.

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Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:12

Booboobagins · 14/02/2026 19:44

There are good men in the world.

Two weeks ago I helped a stranded man - same issue. If you can be anything, be kind 💕

Funny how I never think of men as needing help but that is silly of course. I mean I would certainly help an old man but I always think of younger men as being 'okay'.

Must get over that wrong perception.

Glad you were able to help. I bet he was grateful.

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Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:15

Squirrelsdig · 14/02/2026 20:59

Wonderful story which restores our belief in kindness. This is a win win situation. Train driver was delighted to help and you will pass the kindness on to the next person you see under pressure.

You are right. Everyone's a winner. I think we really needed a nice thread like this at the moment after the horror of the Epstein story unfolding in the press.

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ClairDeLaLune · 15/02/2026 10:17

Ah that’s lovely OP, thank you for sharing ❤️

Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:19

Yakacm · 14/02/2026 22:31

I remember years ago, I was on the way to work, I’d just put diesel in my car, walking back the car after paying I noticed I needed air in at least 1 tyre. Anyway, I hopped in to my car and drove around to the air pump thingy. When I got there a lady was already using the air, I’m male by the way. So I sat there patiently waiting, as this lady was taking ages, and I was kind of getting a tad stressed as I needed to get to my work. After I’d sat there for 10 minutes or so, and the lady is on her second 50p, I could see she was a struggling so I got out the car and asked her if she needed any help. That turned out to be the wrong thing, as she said something along the lines of, what do you mean, do I need help, before losing her s@@t with me. So I got back in the car and left, without using the air pump.

that's a shame. Please don't let it put you off offering help to others. If that had been me and I didn't need help I would have thanked you for asking but reassured you I was okay. I certainly would not have been rude.
If I did need help (and it sounds like she might have) then I would have been grateful.

Sadly there are rude, ungrateful woman in the world as well as unpleasant men but back to the nice men stories...............

OP posts:
ShamedBySiri · 15/02/2026 10:19

Last time I changed a tyre I had managed to pull in off the main road into a pub forecourt, about 11am. I looked hopefully at the pub, huffed a bit and got on with it. When I had finished the bar man came out and offered for me to come in and wash my hands. Turns out the regulars had all been gathered around the window watching and laying bets on my ability to do the job. 🙄

Post script to that - fast forward some years. Car due MOT and DH (who loves cars and organises all the maintenance) noted the tyres needed changing. Turns out he had put some sort of locking nut on that protects against theft and of course he'd lost the key or whatever you need to get them off. It was a right faff finding a garage that could do it. AND ALL THIS TIME I HAVE BEEN DRIVING AROUND CHEERFULLY BELIEVING I COULD CHANGE A TYRE IF I NEEDED TO IN TOTAL IGNORANCE OF THE FACT HE HAD LOCKED THE THINGS ON AND I'D BE TOTALLY STUFFED.
Needless to say there are no longer any locking nuts on anymore, we really don't live in an area where it is a concern.

Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:22

WhitePudding · 13/02/2026 18:18

I love Fife. I’m from Dundee originally but my pil lived in Wormit and we lived in Newburgh for a while before moving to England. Also got married in St Andrews.

That man deserves a fudge do’nut or 2 from Fisher & Donaldsons!

I had no idea so many people from Fife were here on mumsnet. I guess it is a fairly big place. Nice to hear all the love for Fife!

Oh he def earned a whole box of fudge donuts at least!

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Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:28

Hallywally · 13/02/2026 18:20

You don’t use online banking or have Apple/Googlepay? You could have transferred him the money.

Yes I have online banking but not apple/googlepay (current phone is a samsung).

Anyway it was getting dark, I can't see without my reading glasses which I didn't have and quite honestly the thought never even crossed my mind. Probably wasn't thinking rationally as I was panicking.

Afterwards I realised I could have offered him my emergency £10 note which I keep in the car (I'd forgotten all about it) but I doubt he would have taken it anyway. I said he should take the jump leads since he paid for them but he said to keep them in case I needed them again.

Anyway your post is a bit snarky so this thread is probably not for you.

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Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:30

ShamedBySiri · 15/02/2026 10:19

Last time I changed a tyre I had managed to pull in off the main road into a pub forecourt, about 11am. I looked hopefully at the pub, huffed a bit and got on with it. When I had finished the bar man came out and offered for me to come in and wash my hands. Turns out the regulars had all been gathered around the window watching and laying bets on my ability to do the job. 🙄

Post script to that - fast forward some years. Car due MOT and DH (who loves cars and organises all the maintenance) noted the tyres needed changing. Turns out he had put some sort of locking nut on that protects against theft and of course he'd lost the key or whatever you need to get them off. It was a right faff finding a garage that could do it. AND ALL THIS TIME I HAVE BEEN DRIVING AROUND CHEERFULLY BELIEVING I COULD CHANGE A TYRE IF I NEEDED TO IN TOTAL IGNORANCE OF THE FACT HE HAD LOCKED THE THINGS ON AND I'D BE TOTALLY STUFFED.
Needless to say there are no longer any locking nuts on anymore, we really don't live in an area where it is a concern.

Oh well hopefully someone in the pub would have come and offered to help if it became clear you were stuck and not able to do it. I hope so anyway!

OP posts:
Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:32

LancashireButterPie · 13/02/2026 18:30

My son carries jump leads and a tool kit, he has a big reliable car but takes them in case he has to help anyone else.
He is a health care worker in a remote mountainous location and he has used them loads. (Dead proud mum).

What a lovely son. You are quite right to be proud of him!

OP posts:
Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:33

NavyBee · 13/02/2026 19:22

It was Christmas Day in New Zealand about 40 years, ago in the days when shops and service stations were shut on weekends and public holidays. A kind (but absent-minded) academic colleague of my husband’s had lent us his car for a couple of weeks. He had not filled it with petrol. We drove all the way to the airport with the needle on empty to pick up my brother. Halfway back the car finally ran out of petrol. We knocked on someone’s door to ring a taxi (no cellphones back then!) and the lovely man interrupted his Christmas dinner to siphon off petrol from his car and put it in ours. Did I mention we had our two small children with us? We were blown away by his kindness. (But in a way not surprised - we had already found Dunedin people to be amazingly kind and helpful to strangers). I have never forgotten our Christmas Day Good Samaritan.

how kind of him. He didn't have a white beard and a red suit did he!!

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Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:37

Bestisyettocome · 13/02/2026 19:54

I was at the tip once and stupidly left my keys on the ledge of the boot while I was unloading stuff to throw away, in an absent minded moment I slammed the boot with just the tip of the keys protruding from the boot and and the car automatically locked itself. Man next door to me, took it upon himself to spend the next 40 mins figuring out how to salvage said keys, I was ready to give up and pay for a professional and he only went and got them out by taking off the plastic cover on the boot and wedging the boot just a fraction to release the keys!!! Couldn't believe his determination and perseverance! I was extremely grateful for his selflessness 🥲

Gosh how nice of him to take the time to do all this. I bet you were grateful to your hero too. It's easy done, locking your keys in the car!

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Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:39

Comicalblackcat · 13/02/2026 20:28

Hello OP I hope you find your “man”. A long time ago I helped a young lady who had forgotten her purse and parking meter only took cash, she was going for a job interview and was upset, I put my arm round her (I am female) and said don’t worry we will sort it out, I gave her the money plus extra in case she needed it, she wanted to send me a cheque when she got home but I told her “repay me by getting that job”. A couple of weeks later I had a bouquet delivered and in the envelope was a note saying “I got the job thanks to you, God Bless, I will never forget you and your kindness” plus the money. I hadn’t given her an address or phone number so how did she manage to find me it could only have been through my car number. Life moves in mysterious ways.

Lovely story. Well done you.

OP posts:
NorthernEmma · 15/02/2026 10:39

i dont believe in all that universe stuff but loved this that a friend sent me (image might need to be approved first)

Rescued Today By a Man. Feeling very grateful
Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:41

ThisAzureBear · 14/02/2026 09:36

That's the wonderful thing about random acts of kindness and generosity of spirit; the ripple effects are huge. Huge because now all reading this, feel a softness in their hearts. Kindness will now move up our agenda's and spread itself a little bit more. Thank you Train driver from Fife. We salute you!!

It's true. I feel more kindly towards my fellow man than I did before all this.
The ripple effect is true.

OP posts:
BlackBeltInOrigami · 15/02/2026 10:42

Would you be ok if someone shared a screenshot of your post to Fife Jammers group? Maybe that would be seen by him?

Original poster
NeverGoingToBeThinAgain · 15/02/2026 10:44

Houghtonhelper · 14/02/2026 18:08

And that ladies is why you should bring your sons up to be Gentlemen

The man I married won me over because he had impeccable manners and was such a gentleman. Opening car doors, walking on the outside of the path near the road. That was thirty years ago and I still remember it quite clearly. He would def help a damsel in distress if he could. He was 6ft 3 and petite woman were always asking him to get things off shelves in supermarkets as they couldn't reach.

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FrootyCider · 15/02/2026 10:45

When I was 18ish my mum gave me a three figure sum in an envelope to take to the bank before I went to college. I left the entire amount in a phone box (thought I had put it back in my bag, it must have slipped down the side) I contemplating faking my death/ running away/ joining the circus. I went to the police station and lo and behold, a bloke had walked all the way from town and handed it in. My mum was none the wiser, my fake death was avoided. Phew!