Act of Kindness

A news item which appeared in last week's issue of The Nationalist newspaper, Clonmel, attracted my attention. It was written by staff reporter, Eamon Lacey, and it shows that there are people — and a young person in this case — who are capable of fine acts of kindness. At a time when all around us a low based agenda is being pushed — supported by the national organs of the media — noble acts like this give us hope.

I will quote the article hereunder:

CARING JAMIE IS A GOOD SAMARITAN TO FAI BOSS 

John Delaney's Mum in Motorway Blizzard

Eamon Lacey

A Clonmel man who rescued a mother and daughter from a blizzard while on a journey home from hospital has been hailed as a hero. 

Joan Delaney, wife of former FAI treasurer Joe Delaney and mother of FAI chief executive officer John Delaney, and her daughter were saved by a young Clonmel man who came to their aid when he saw their car stopped up on the Cork/Dublin motorway near Watergrasshill in atrocious weather conditions on Tuesday night of last week. 

The car in which Joan and her daughter Jean were travelling seized up and came to an abrupt stop. 

"We were terrified. The blizzard was unbelievable. It was very frightening for us both", said Joan who had been collected from the Bons Securs hospital by her daughter Jean. 

"When we left Cork at 9.30 pm everything was okay but we then came into this awful blizzard a short distance after coming out of the Jack Lynch tunnel. Our car just stopped in the middle of the road, it seized up", said Joan. 

"We were there a while when we noticed this figure approaching the car. He asked us did we need help and he was just brilliant and looked after us and made sure we got home safely on the night", she said. 

The Good Samaritan, Jamie Fenton from Clonmel, who was doing a night course in Cork, managed to pull the car into the hard shoulder before driving it to Watergrasshill where they left it overnight. Jamie then drove Joan and her daughter Jean to their home in Tipperary town. 

"We got stuck in those awful conditions, we did not know what to do. Only for him we were in real trouble", said Joan. 

She said it was heartening to see such kindness. 

"Not only did he stop to help us in those awful conditions but he drove out of his way to bring us to our front door in Tipperary town. We were very grateful to him for saving us and looking after us so well", said Joan.