A businessman spent his 39th birthday riding to the rescue of snowbound hospital staff – by offering them lifts to work in his 4x4.
Carl Pugh and his partner Suzanne Gill, 39, took to Facebook to offer a free service ferrying medical personnel who would otherwise struggle to get to work in the treacherous snowy conditions.
They decided to spend Thursday helping out after plans for a birthday lunch fell through.
Suzanne said: “We had planned to go to a restaurant in Ripponden for lunch, but the restaurant rang to say they weren’t open because of the weather.”
Carl, who lives at Siddal, Halifax, and runs his own IT business, Tech Service Partner, was at the wheel of the Ford Ranger with Suzanne at his side navigating and taking “bookings”.
During a hectic day’s driving, they provided free lifts for 11 people – including taking two nurses to work at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary’s A&E department, transporting two home care workers to their appointments in Bradford and even getting a policeman home at the end of his shift.
Today (Fri) the good work continues when Carl and Suzanne take two patients to their appointments at the renal unit at Huddersfield Royal Infirmary.
The couple have been liaising with members of West Yorkshire 4x4 Volunteers to answer requests for help.
Announcing the free service on Facebook, Carl posted: “Anybody working for the medical services and need to get to work during this treacherous weather but can’t get out or want to risk driving, please PM me and I will come and collect you for free.
“You provide an amazing service to us all day in and day out and I would love to show my appreciation by helping you all out for a change.”
His selfless actions drew appreciative comments with a number of people on Facebook with one woman posting: “Good on you mate hero of the hour for those in need of help.”
Another remarked: “What a lovely thoughtful thing to offer. Well done you Carl Pugh especially on your birthday.”
Carl said: “It’s been a busy day, but we are glad to help. We saw someone offer the same through social media and thought we could do the same. My birthday plans were cancelled due to the weather so we just turned the day into something positive.”
