As I sat in the heavy traffic this morning, I was reminded of a lady who had previously called our free Helpline.

Funny enough at the time, she and her husband were also sitting in Traffic.

Unfortunately for *Betty, her husband had started to get chest pains and couldn’t continue driving. Betty started to panic both for her husband and her current predicament. The car behind, unaware of the situation, started to honk at Betty and her husband *Brian to move as the traffic in front had started to trickle forward. This lasted for about 6 or 7 minutes. Real fear was starting to creep in when all of a sudden, a miracle happened. A pedestrian walking along the footpath had stopped upon hearing the horn and watched in slow motion as the incident for Betty and her husband unfolded.

This wonderful man *Peter, navigated through the heavy traffic and opened Brian’s door, he had already commenced the 000 call to organise an Ambulance. He undid Brian’s seatbelt and loosened his collar to assist his breathing. The man who was honking behind them had leapt out of his car upon seeing Peter and managed to divert the traffic to avoid any incidence. Within 20 mins the ambulance was there to assist.

The good news for Brian and Betty is that it was a false alarm, it wasn’t a heart attack and he was released the next day after numerous tests.

This needs to be lesson to all of us. We are all so busy, rushing through the day from one appointment to another, dropping off the kids, trying to get to work, not thinking about anything else but our daily tasks.

May I suggest from today we start looking around on our travels, stop and take a breath and actually see what is going on around us like Peter did. Be at the ready to offer any assistance or kindness to everybody and anybody who may need it. Seniors have so much to offer in time, knowledge and stories of yesteryear. Most have worked their whole lives and should be revered as a valuable member of the community.

Anyway, I digress, the reason Betty was ringing our Helpline is that she had just been awarded a package three from the government and had no idea what the next steps were. I was happy to find out her needs, location and point her in the right direction.

With our helpline, we also follow up in a couple of weeks and make sure everybody is happy and receiving the assistance they need.

If you know a loved one, friend or family member in the same boat, please get them to call us on 1300 078 688, we are here to help!

*To protect the privacy of the individuals, their names have been changed.