Teens come to stranded woman’s aid
When Matamata’s Scarlett Morgana-rose Nisbett saw smoke coming out of her vehicle while passing through a strange town at night she was understandably worried.
Nisbett was on her way to Taihape when she decided to stop in Tokoroa for dinner. It was then that she saw smoke billowing out from under her bonnet.
‘‘I was thinking what am I going to do? I have insurance but I don’t have roadside assist and I didn’t know anyone in town,’’ she said.
With little knowledge about mechanics and her partner already well away down the line Nisbett felt very alone.
But not for long. The hospitality of Tokoroa’s community soon saw to that.
‘‘These two young teenage boys were busking and they just grabbed all their coins and came running over and said ‘‘miss are you alright, do you need any help?’’ I said I don’t know what’s happening. I was in shock, I thought it was going to blow up,’’ she said.
‘‘They opened up the bonnet and seemed to have a fairly good idea of what was going on. We waited until it cooled down and then one of them went to a shop and got a bucket so we could put water in the radiator.’’
She said a local lady called Lisa also pulled over and later on a man.
‘‘I have driven through Tokoroa before and thought it is not a bad place but from what others say it gets a bad reputation so I was surprised by the amount of people who offered to help,’’ she said. ‘‘I was so appreciative of what the people in Tokoroa did for me.’’
She said despite the two teenagers looking for jobs they refused payment for their help.
The generosity didn’t end there either as Lisa, who organised a local towing company to take Nisbett’s vehicle to a mechanic so it would be safe for the night, also drove her home. All the way to Matamata.
‘‘She had just come back from Auckland but said she would drive me home and she wouldn’t take any money for gas,’’ she said.
‘‘Words can not express the gratitude I feel.’’