A grateful biker has thanked a cabbie as a local hero for rescuing him when he was stranded on the roadside for hours in the dark.
Dougie Farish said Okehampton taxi driver Kevin Ball went above and beyond the call of duty looking after him for hours before the RAC collected his machine, six hours after they were called.
Dougie was riding his motorbike with his partner Hollie in convoy on another bike on their way to a family holiday in Bude when he broke down near Sourton on the A386 around 8pm on the August Bank Holiday weekend after an arduous six-hour ride.
He called the RAC which said it would be with him as a priority and send a taxi to take him to his destination, while taking his the Suzuki Bandit to his home in Edgbaston, near Birmingham.
However, the RAC ‘let him down’, with repeated assurances they would attend at deadlines which came and passed. He therefore, decided to take matters into his own hands by calling Okehampton taxi firm Devon Links and was immediately called by Kevin. Meanwhile, Hollie failed to notice he had broken down at about 8pm in the rain and continued to Bude.
Dougie, a Jaguar Land Rover line manager in Solihull, said: “By this point it was dark, around 11pm on Friday night, there was no street lights, it was raining, and the road was still quite busy next to me and there was no shelter.
“I searched online for a local taxi company and the first one I called didn't seem interested in helping me because I couldn't say with any certainty exactly where I was.
“Next I tried Devon Links Taxis, and I spoke to Kevin Ball who was clearly very knowledgeable about the local area, had a rough idea where I was but suggested I use What3Words to narrow it down precisely.
“He opted to decline any other jobs, and then drive to me unprompted, carrying water and offering the shelter of his car until whenever the recovery vehicle arrived. He even offered a hot drink or food from a service station.
“For a total of around three hours, Kevin dedicated his night to ensuring that I was safe, had shelter, drinks and food, and drove me to Bude. He managed to turn a pretty awful ordeal in to a full restoration of my faith in humanity. A true credit to the people of Okehampton. I was blown away by the efforts this man made to selflessly ensure the wellbeing of a complete stranger. I will never forgot.
“As a result, I was able to enjoy the remainder of the weekend and had a fantastic time with my family in a beautiful part of the world, when my adventure could have very easily have ended that night.”
Kevin said: “I was pleased to help this poor chap. He had nowhere to shelter, being on a bike. It’s no big deal. I just thought what I’d want in his position. I’m sure any of my taxi colleagues would do the same.”