A9 car breakdown saw 11 locals ‘go out of their way’ to help
ELEVEN Highland locals stopped to help a woman after her car broke down late at night on the A9 to offer her and her family “fantastic” support in a potentially scary situation.
On Friday night (August 2), Krystle McCartney was picking up her mum from Inverness Airport and driving back to her home in Golspie, alongside her niece and husband.
However, when she was driving through Tain on the A9, her car broke down.
“Basically my car just died on the side of the road at 9.45pm,” Krystle said. “Within a minute, people had started stopping to check we were ok. We counted a total of 11 different people who stopped to check on us.”
While they waited several hours for their breakdown service RAC to come to the scene, Easter Ross locals stepped up to take care of the family in a time of need.
Krystle continued: “People were offering us drinks, blankets and lifts — they were just fantastic. There was a young guy called William and his dad Mark, who really went out of their way to try and get us sorted.
“It was just reassuring, particularly because we had to leave the car after the police taped it all off.”
Krystle believes the reason for her car’s breakdown was related to its sensors, after one of the kind locals who stopped plugged in their diagnostic machine.
Eventually a friend was able to come and pick up Krystle’s mum and young niece, and take them home — but Krystle and her husband stayed on until the early hours of Saturday morning.
“At 3am people were still stopping to check we were okay, even at that time! It helped us to keep faith, knowing that people cared… it meant that it all didn’t feel as bad.
“It was very much appreciated, and it also felt much safer to know people were really friendly despite it being dark and cold.”
Krystle, who works as a post diagnostic support link worker at Alzheimer Scotland, highlighted the importance of community spirit in a world often filled with bleak news
“We were shocked that the first guy who stopped was quite young — a lot of young people unfairly get a bad reputation. Living in the Highlands, we know how community orientated people are here.“
