Good Samaritan holds the key to helping dog walker
Losing your car keys can be an incredibly stressful ordeal. Questions such as how you’re going to get home and whether you even have a spare key suddenly race through your mind. For Amanda Braha, 53, the panic of finding out she had lost her car keys on Sunday led her to asking for a hammer from a local café. Ms Braha, who works in Bath, said: “I had left my purse in the car and the only way I thought I’d be able to safely retrieve it was to smash the window.” Fortunately, it didn’t come to this as she was saved by an unsuspecting café owner whose generosity completely took her by surprise. Recalling the ordeal, she said: “It was quite early in the morning and I had taken my dog Mani, who is five-years-old, down to Dundas aqueduct. “While Mani was playing in the water I noticed that I had lost my car keys. “Worried about my purse in the car I went into a local café and asked for a hammer so I could smash the window open.” Ms Braha went into the Dawdling Dairy, a canal boat café run by Mar Vickery, 61. She told Mr Vickery what had happened and instead of lending her a hammer he did something that surprised her. “He handed over his car keys and told me that I could go home and call my insurance company”, she said. “I couldn’t believe it. Not only that, but he told me to bring the car back whenever I could.” Ms Braha drove home that morning and called the AA to inform them of her predicament. Several hours later she drove back to Mr Vickery’s canal boat and handed back his car keys. She said: “I couldn’t thank him enough. He was amazing. My family are away at the moment and so they couldn’t come and help. “I was also worried I might get sunstroke stuck outside without my car, but his generosity really helped me out. “It just goes to show that there are some good Samaritans around.” There was more good news ahead for Ms Braha, who lives in Bradford on Avon but works as a carer in Bath. Her car keys were found near the aqueduct by Mr Vickery and she was able to leave without involving the insurers. Mr Vickery has since described his actions as “absolutely nothing”. He said: “I was aware of who Ms Braha was as I’d seen her with her dog before along the canal. So it wasn’t like I was giving my car away to a complete stranger.” Recalling the incident, he said: “She came up to me in a panic saying she’d lost her keys. She looked completely frazzled. “First she wanted me to lend her a hammer but we came up with a better plan together. I agreed to give her my car so she could go home and make some calls. “We should really have swapped numbers though as around an hour after she left I managed to find her car keys. “But she came back around four or five hours later anyway.” Mr Vickery takes his café to various locations along the canal over the summer months. He’s often sighted between Bath and Bradford-on-avon. Asked if he’d ever given away his car keys before, he said: “Not to anyone like this. I’ve only given them away to friends in the past. “People are always losing stuff around here though. On the day Amanda lost her keys I also found a rucksack and a dog bowl.” Mr Vickery can be seen in the Dawdling Dairy throughout the summer on the Kennet and Avon Canal.