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My Nikkel's Worth

If ever you get the opportunity to do a good deed and be a "Good Samaritan", you should take that opportunity - you never know what good you might do for someone.


If ever you get the opportunity to do a good deed and be a "Good Samaritan", you should take that opportunity - you never know what good you might do for someone.

Just last week, a Regina police officer played that role, and while I don't know his name, he has my everlasting gratitude (and that of my daughter's) because he was a great help to my "baby", my youngest girl.

At first, it sounded bad when I got a text from Jo that she had blown a tire on the Ring Road; as it turned out, this was an accurate description, as the tire didn't just go flat, it blew, and there was damage to her car as a result.

This was a day with a high wind chill - so there she was with a blown tire on the Ring Road, the scariest road in Regina; she had no money with her, and had no idea what to do.

A man stopped and was able to call a tow truck for her, but being without cash, she was still not sure how she was going to deal with this. Left alone to wait for the tow truck, she texted that she was cold and scared - and as her dad, I was particularly concerned because I was here at work in Weyburn, a long ways from her.

Well, a Regina police officer came along, and in my mind at least, he went "above and beyond the call of duty" in a very nice and gracious way; he called another tow truck who could get there faster, and then he drove my Jo home, so she was safe and warm again.

In the days since, my wife and I have been doing what we can to help her, as all of this was a new experience for her, including going through the process of filing a claim through SGI for the damages done to her car.

The bottom line for me out of this is simply, don't underestimate the good you can do when you help someone.

My wife and I had the help of a Good Samaritan a couple years ago, when Highway 33 turned into a skating rink and I lost control of the car and ended up in the ditch just outside of Sedley.

It took a little while to find someone who could help, but a guy in a pickup from Stoughton, on his way home from work in the Regina area, stopped and used a chain to pull my car out of the ditch. My car was buried nose first into deep snow, and this was the only way it was ever going to get out. With the highway being sheer ice, it was difficult for the truck driver to get enough traction, but he managed to pull us out; we then were able to drive, very slowly, home again without any further incident.

Now my Jo can add her own story to the legacy of Good Samaritan stories. Maybe in the next chapter of our lives, we can "pay it forward", and see what good can come from helping someone else in trouble.