"I put my back into helping the lady"

The great thing about working as an AA Patrol is that I get to deal with our members face to face. So I really feel like I’m helping them and not just fixing a car. In fact, we sometimes get called out on a job where the priority is the member rather than their car. This is called a compassionate recovery, and I got one just a few weeks ago.

A member had called the AA to say that she had twisted her back and she was lying on the ground next to her car unable to move. And how did she hurt her back? Well, she did it while out walking her dog. I know it sounds funny, but it certainly was no laughing matter.

When I arrived, the poor woman was still on the ground and obviously in a lot of pain. I sat with her and her dog and we waited for the ambulance that the AA call centre had phoned for to arrive, which it did ten minutes later. As the paramedics were putting her a stretcher, she asked me to ring her neighbours to ask them if they would look after her dog until she got back home, which happily they agreed to. So whilst the member was on her way to hospital, I was on my way to her home with her car and dog.

Mike Lloyd, AA Patrol