Remarkable Act of Human Kindness

By Karen Steven

...in your time of need, there are some incredible people who will come to your aid if/when needed, without question, offering their assistance and with such good humour.

I always thought that it is the people that make a place. For me, an overwhelming example of the 'Spirit of the Highlands' came to me recently.

I travelled home to Caithness from Aberdeen to spend time with family. I had no idea that I would end up leaning on 3 members of the local Thurso community, who I had never met before. The taxi driver, who immediately stopped work to whisk me to a local garage when my car automatically locked itself with my keys inside while I was at Dunnet's Carwash. What an extraordinary act of human kindness from someone I didn't know. And a car mechanic at Halfords, McConechy's, who instantly downed his tools while at work and telephoned his work colleague on his day off to explain my predicament. In no time, assistance was co-ordinated and these helpful folk arrived at my car with the necessary car entry kit, and the job of rescuing my car keys began.

I looked on, impressed at the care and efficiency with which they set about retrieving the car keys and unlocking the car. I was astounded at the sheer camaraderie and willingness of these 3 amazing individuals in coming to my assistance. This truly is a remarkable example of 'Spirit of the Highlands’ and I hope that this story demonstrates to potential visitors to the area, that, in your time of need, there are some incredible people who will come to your aid if/when needed, without question, offering their assistance and with such good humour.

We Want to Hear From You!

Share your stories of community spirit in the Highlands and Islands

Stories are at the heart of what we do as a project and we are always looking to learn more about what the Highlands and Islands means to people who live, work, and visit here.

The connections between a person and their community are vital to the very essence of a place. We would love to know, how does the 'Spirit of the Highlands and Islands' manifest itself in your community? Tell us below, we can't wait to hear from you!

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