Tow truck driver comes to young mom’s rescue (CAN)

[TowNews]

Topic was Originally Created on Tow411 by GR Tower in April of 2011:

 

A great story of a great tower in Calgary helping out!

On Tuesday morning, Sarah Simms was stuck in traffic. Simm's car broke down on Calgary's QEII. She sat in the slow lane for 30 minutes, watching angry drivers zoom past her. Her five-month-old daughter, Isabell, was buckled in the backseat of the 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier.

She called both her father and boyfriend for help. She had no choice but to wait for someone to come to her aid — and suffer the insults of road-raging strangers.

"A truck pulled up and they unrolled their window so I thought they might have a suggestion because I don't know about cars," Simms told the Calgary Sun. "But they just said 'move your [expletive] car you stupid [expletive],' so I started bawling my eyes out."

About 10 minutes after the young mom burst into tears, tow-truck driver Burt Trithart came to her rescue. He was on his way to another call when he saw the distressed woman stranded in the middle of the road.

"He said 'let me pull you off the road,' then saw I had [Isabell] and he was appalled nobody stopped," said Simms.

Trithart, a father, couldn't help but assist the mother and daughter. He pulled Simms' car off the road, rescuing them from the dangerous highway.

He then went above and beyond: The good Samaritan towed Simms' vehicle to her parents' home in Airdrie at no cost.

Trithart said, "My priority was to make sure her and her daughter were safe; I figured 'I have the equipment and machinery with me to make sure no one hits her.' "

Simms and her daughter arrived home safely where her father concluded that the car had overheated.

Simms says the generous gesture has restored her faith in humanity — or at least in her Calgarian neighbours.

Watch Simm's and Trithart's encouraging story here. VIDEO LINK MISSING

Great to see the good instead of  the negative that the media makes us out to be sometimes as Towers. All the good towers keep up the good work and the bad will be shadowed by the good that we do.

 

https://ca.news.yahoo.com/blogs/good-news/tow-truck-driver-comes-young-mom-rescue-20110330-131033-868.html

[TowNews]

Auto Rescue copied missing story in another post.

 

Monday, March 28, 2011


Samaritan tow truck driver comes to the rescue
He may not have been wearing tights or driving a tricked-out black car with giant fins, but Burt Trithart is a bona fide superhero to Sarah Simms. Broken down on the QEII near Airdrie with her five-month-old baby Isabell in the back seat, Simms, 25, sat stuck for 30 minutes last Tuesday morning with cars whizzing by on both sides until Trithart, a driver with City Wide Towing, swooped in to save the day.

“I was in the slow lane because I wanted to merge into Airdrie and my car just died,” said Simms.

After calling her boyfriend and dad for help, Simms sat waiting and said she was shocked by the vitriol shown to her by other drivers.

“A truck pulled up and they unrolled their window so I thought they might have a suggestion because I don’t know about cars,” she said.

“But they just said ‘move your (expletive) car you stupid (expletive),’ so I started bawling my eyes out.”

It was about 10 minutes later that Trithart stopped to make sure everything was OK.

“He said ‘let me pull you off the road,’ then saw I had (Isabell) and he was appalled nobody stopped,” said Simms.

Trithart is a father himself who said he’s had his own car troubles and sat hoping, for the sake of his kids, someone would stop to help sooner rather than later.

He said the new mom seemed stressed and distraught, and when he saw the baby he knew he couldn’t leave her.

“Seeing her daughter definitely tugged at the heart strings,” he said.

“My priority was to make sure her and her daughter were safe; I figured ‘I have the equipment and machinery with me to make sure no one hits her.”

Simms said she was concerned about the cost of having her car towed to her parents’ home in Airdrie, but Trithart told her the ride was on the house.

When Simm’s 1990 Chevrolet Cavalier arrived her parents, her dad soon discovered it had simply overheated.

And after being accosted by several angry drivers, Simms said Trithart restored her faith in humanity.

“In a period of 15 minutes I went from feeling utterly hopeless and having zero faith in the Calgary population to having it completely restored,” she said.

 

svcmgrnow said:

Way to go Burt!! That's called "doing the next right thing". Selfless acts, what a lost art in this day and age of "what's in it for me".

 

brittsauto said:

Helping out someone that is truely in need of help makes me feel better than any paycheck. I look forward to the freebies that i provide willingly.  I know i'm not going to make it like donald trump, I just want to help people and hope that some of the kindness is learned by my kids and they use it wisely!!!  We should all thank Burt for reminding us that there is more to our job than just money. 

 

tomintow said:

I know a owner/operator who wont stop to check on a car pulled over because he's afraid that if they are broke down they will expect free service because he stopped. So what, its hard for me to pass someone espiecally elderly of female.

 

TowZone said:

Obviously if her Boyfriend and Dad allowed 30 minutes to pass they were not concerned. I would have called the police as I was driving promptly to the scene. Several have gotten struck because they did not think to call the authorities. With all the cell phones these days surely someone called it in, if not then the attitude in that area must be a sad. Kudos to the tower, do I consider this an act of heroism, certainly not. It was a kinda oath a tow truck operator takes and the reward should be the knowledge of a good deed. Not a Badge or Metal, but the feeling that a good deed brings. Thank you and all the towers that assist motorist even when they have little the gain. Financially This Is.....

 

goodmichael said:

Here in town you would wait up to two hours for the police to respond, as it would be a low priority call. Great job stopping to assist someone in need. One of my best memories in towing was a woman who was stuck on the side of the road with her grandson. He was about four years old, and thoroughly enjoyed standing on the bed and working the controls to lift the wheel lift of the 882 to get grandma's van in position to transport. I was really embarrassed when he stated that he was going to drive a tow truck when he grew up and smoke Marlboro cigarettes. (The cigarette comment was the embarrassment, not the career choice. Grandma gave me the look when she heard this as well.) Happy to report that I quit my 2.5 pack a day habit ten years ago. Thank God, I couldn't afford it then when they were 2.79 a pack.

 

TowZone said:

The article states she was in the slow lane, that would be a low priority? Any stranded motorist on the side of the road here is more a concern. Not High Priority but the officers will respond promptly and search for them. Numerous calls from passer bys will prompt the response and guide them to the vehicle.

 

Rototor60 said:

This Tow Truck Drivers actions is a reminder that it should not always be "all about the money".

 

mooresbp said:

I would rather do a free tow in that situation than get stiffed by someone who says " I'll be in first of the week"

 

Prairie View Towing and Recovery said:

We have done a few 'freebies' for people who really need it and we have found that it comes back to us 10 fold from getting a free mechanical service to one fella donating an entire crate of chips to our kids (they were happy with that one...lol). Will we get rich doing this? Probably not money wise but we always feel better for it and we know that when a towing service is needed again we are first in their thoughts and never do they ask if we can do it for free again, they usually over pay their own bill.

Holly M.

 

Brian Bell said:

Great Job Burt!!!

Here in La. It is illegal to stop and "solicit" a tow, so I honestly don't stop at typical roadside breakdown but I've stopped hundreds of times when a vehicle is in the roadway.

I have a saying I use often.... Some people are in the towing business to make money, and some people are in this business to help people, but you have to make money to stay in business to be here and able to HELP the next person that needs it.
P.S. I will stop roadside for elderly etc. Or call local authorities.