Grateful thanks
Sir, My wife and I recently visited Arran for the first time. Unfortunately we had a road accident on the day that we arrived, without any other vehicle being involved our car caught a narrow verge and before we knew what was happening we were pulled off the road and our car ended up on it’s side at the bottom of a steep bank; this happened near the village of Kilmory and close to a construction site where a new distillery is being built.
Within minutes of our accident the Arran army of good people began to come to our rescue. Men from the site nearby dropped tools immediately, and James the site manager took control, he along with his boys helped and assisted my wife and I from the car whilst giving instructions for a vehicle to be taken to the scene along with a ramp to bridge the gap from the upturned car to the road, within 20 minutes we were sitting in the warmth of the site office in their most comfortable chairs with and a hot cuppa and biscuits, without any fuss or drama.
The next good people to arrive were Shirley and Martin in the ambulance, they were thoroughly assertive and professional, and we not only felt that we were in the most capable hands medically but in the presence of people that really cared – on the way back to the hospital we spoke warmly together as friends sharing experiences in our lives that were most meaningful.
Colin and Ian, the policemen who arrived on the scene shortly after the ambulance, were just glad to see that we were not badly hurt and after they had arranged all the work of recovering our car, popped in to see us later in the hospital to check how we were and tell us about our vehicle and rightly saying: ‘cars can be mended’.
The lady duty doctor and staff at the hospital gave us their full attention and a most thorough examination – they went way beyond the call of duty allowing the use of their phone and arranging transport for us to get back to the Auchrannie Hotel where we were staying.
Duncan Macleod the duty manager at Auchrannie along with all his staff were genuinely sorry about our mishap and made the rest of our stay most comfortable, sensitively and thoughtfully applying extra TLC . and in a very quiet and unpretentious way they went the extra miles.
Someone along the way mentioned that Angus Lambie who recovered our car could be a bit stern. Well, I don’t know about that, but I do know that I couldn’t have asked for anyone better than Angus when my back was to the wall and I was needing help. He is a solid son of Arran.
Before we left the hotel and the island, one of the ladies from the office came to see how we were and to pass on the best regards from Anthony, her relative who was one of the local boys who helped us out of the car.
My wife and I are committed Christians and thank God for sparing our lives, and for all the good people on the island who reflect being made in God’s good image. We would love to return to you and your beautiful island. Grateful thanks. Yours, Gavin and Anne Sutherland Inverness