A Sherwood Park woman is expressing her gratitude for a stranger who helped her family visit a loved one in what was believed to be his final days.
Deborah Day was only in the beginning of the three-hour drive to Calgary to see her terminally ill father-in-law of 26 years when her vehicle inexplicably began to lose power.
Taking the next exit to Ponoka, she managed to limp to Fountain Tire and ask staff if it was possible to prioritize her vehicle, given the circumstances.
They were able to grant the request, but needed parts from Red Deer – 40 minutes away – in order to diagnose the problem, the shop’s owner and manager told CTV News Edmonton in a recent interview.
“Car problems are always super stressful, but mostly I was thinking, how are we going to get to Calgary?” Day said.
She said staff helped her look for alternatives, like a car rental agency or a timely bus, but neither avenue panned out.
“Then, a man that worked at the shop – who I found out later was the owner, but I didn’t know that at the time – he came over and he said, ‘Well, why don’t you take my truck, you go to Calgary, see your family, and we’ll take care of your car, and we’ll just see you when you get back here?”’ Day recalled.
“I was just speechless… It took me a minute to process what he was offering.”
There were so many aspects of the situation that shocked her: that the man was a stranger, that he’d make such an offer, and especially that he’d do so for such a long trip.
But Colin Zimmer said he didn’t think twice about it.
“I’ve had to say goodbye, once, to a loved one, too. So I knew their situation,” he told CTV News Edmonton.
“Get to Calgary. That’s more important.”
Although Day’s father-in-law’s condition improved slightly, his daughter-in-law is grateful for the time she was able to spend with him.
“The gift (Zimmer) gave us was just so much more than just a ride or transportation, but it was really the gift of time with that family member.
“How do you say thank you for something like that? It just was really awe inspiring that he even thought to do that.”
With files from CTV News Edmonton’s Adel Ahmed