Kindness of strangers: a woman laid down on the road beside me, holding my hand until the ambulance came

2 days ago 11

I could see the car and knew I was going to hit it. People ask: did your life flash before your eyes? It didn’t. The only thing I remember thinking was: “oh well”. In an instant all those things I’d been worrying about until that point didn’t matter, because I was about to die. Oh well!

There was nothing I could do. I was on my motorbike on a dark and rainy night in rush hour traffic when a car pulled across into my lane without looking. I couldn’t avoid hitting it, I couldn’t break, I was going to hit the car and I was going to die.

The next thing I knew, I was lying on the road. When I came to, I became aware of people starting to crowd around me. There were all these faceless feet milling all around, asking me my name and telling me I was alright. But no one wanted to move me or take my motorcycle helmet off in case I had some sort of spinal damage.

I’m not sure when Sophia came into the picture, but I do remember she laid down next to me on the road so I could see her face. She was the first person to do that. She asked me if I needed her to call somebody and I asked her to ring my husband. She did, then she came back to hold my hand and chat with me to try to keep me conscious until the ambulance arrived, which took about half an hour.

There was a humanness to her connection – she seemed to understand that I needed the safety of someone being right there at eye level.

Sophia came to visit me at the hospital later that night to see how I was. Miraculously, nothing was broken: I had a lot of protective gear on, which had saved me. I just had a lot of bruises and strains. Sophia had been to the supermarket and bought me some snacks and magazines, rightly suspecting I’d be in there for a while and would need entertainment.

She hadn’t only thought about me – she’s come to see my husband, too. She had got him a hot chook, coleslaw and salad and said: I know it will be really late by the time you get home tonight and if you’re anything like my husband, you won’t have thought about yourself. She stayed with us for about half an hour.

She was a FIFO worker, so she was doing all of this while sacrificing a precious night at home with her family. I couldn’t believe somebody so thoughtful could exist – I mean, what an angel.

I think about the selflessness of the hours she so willingly gave up to help someone she’d never met before. Now, in many different situations, I think, what would Sophia do? She wasn’t the medical responder. And yet what she offered was of such huge value. I never saw Sophia again, but I still can’t imagine anybody kinder than this woman.