"I helped get her to hospital on time"

Even though AA Patrols like myself are highly trained and skilled mechanics, there are the very rare occasions when we can't fix a vehicle by the roadside. Usually when this happens we call up the AA Recovery guys and they take it to a garage near the member's home and drop the member off outside their door. Sometimes though, it's not that simple.

In June last year I was called out to a member who had broken down whilst driving his wife from Spalding in Lincolnshire to a hospital in Chester. She had an appointment to see a specialist for which she had already had to wait 4 months for, so it was crucial that they get there.

When I arrived at their car the member's wife was sitting in the vehicle wrapped in a blanket and not looking too good to be honest. Also, she desperately needed to use a toilet. Obviously people are more important than cars, so I took the member and his wife to the nearest service station while I went back to the car.

It didn't take me long to realise that this particular job was going to need a recovery to a garage. But how was I going to get the member and his wife to her hospital appointment, especially as they didn't have AA Stay Mobile cover?

When I got back to the service station and broke the news to them they were naturally very upset as the next available appointment if they missed this one was in late July. That's when I asked the member if he had his driving licence with him, as I had a plan. Thankfully he did, so I said that I would arrange a hire car for him from a company affiliated with the AA and arrange to have his vehicle taken to a garage near his home while they carried on to the hospital.

I found out later that they made it to the appointment with just five minutes to spare. So unlike Baldrick in Blackadder my cunning plan worked.

Steve Douglas, AA Patrol