An Indian citizen's appreciation for a Good Samaritan in Oldham

Editor,

I am Dr. Rick Maity, an Indian citizen who recently travelled to the UK in March, and departed in May.

I'd like to share a story with your readers.

What I’m about to recount shows that even when everything’s lost, you can find help in the unlikeliest of circumstances.

Sometimes, that help is enough to turn the tide against anything which seems initially impossible.

The deepest of gratitude isn’t enough for the kind Englishman who wordlessly helped us without us asking for it.

It was 5am on a cold drizzling Friday.

In order to reach Heathrow Airport for our flight back to India, we were to catch a train to London Euston from Manchester Piccadilly railway station at 6.15am.

The time to reach Piccadilly was hardly 30 minutes, but there were no cabs available.

In utter desperation, we walked to the Oldham Mumps bus stop to try and catch a bus.

The bus stop was deserted, save a friendly middle aged man.

My mother asked him details of the bus number, route and briefly told him of our race against time in reaching the station.

The bus came around 5.20 am.

Seeing us struggle with our heavy bags, the gentleman wordlessly helped us load our luggage and then boarded the bus himself.

Reminding us to pay the bus driver, he went and sat right at the back.

We knew we'd miss the train, as buses usually take 40 minutes to reach the station bus stop, which is a few minutes away from the station itself.

We reached the final bus stop around 6.05am.

There was no way we would reach on time lugging six heavy bags, especially when we didn’t know the direction to the station.

Not only did the gentleman help in unloading the heavy bags, he took one himself and told us to follow him.

On reaching the station, he checked the electronic boards, told us the platform number and guided us to the right platform and train.

It’s remarkable that he did all this without us asking for his assistance even once!

It was 6.13am when we were seated in our coach.

We’ll forever be indebted to the kind man who made the impossible possible.

I assumed he too had the same train to catch but it was not so.

That he would take out time to help total strangers seems unthinkable to me, where we’re taught to mind our own businesses.

I would never know what he saw in us that he wordlessly helped the helpless.

My only regret is that I couldn’t shake the man’s hand in deep gratitude, nor did I get to know his name.

If you're reading this, I thank you from the bottom of my heart.

The world needs more selfless souls like you.

These experiences are truly worth living for!

Dr. Rick Maity, MBBS (Hons)
Kolkata

West Bengal

India

The views expressed are those of the author of the letter and not those of Oldham Chronicle.