Last Thursday, my husband went out for a quick trip to the mailbox. He carefully drove down the driveway but somehow lost his footing while exiting his vehicle between the end of the driveway and the mailbox. He landed on sheer ice, hidden under the snow, and couldn’t get his feet underneath him. Try as he might, he could not right himself.

As he struggled, he watched nine or 10 vehicles go by as he lay hidden between the car and the snowbank on Highland Avenue in South Portland. With the city snowplow bearing down on him and the blowing snow swirling around him, he knew he was in extreme danger.

Suddenly, two good Samaritans in a white pickup truck stopped their truck, jumped out, picked my husband up and helped him into his car. No names were exchanged, and the men were back in their vehicle and on their way in a matter of seconds.

Fortunately, my husband only suffered a sprained ankle. Without the help of the two men in the truck, however, the consequences could have been disastrous.

There are several lessons to learn from this chance encounter, from “Don’t go out without your boots on” to the far more important realization that there are wonderful people right here in our little corner of the world who go out of their way to help strangers.

To those two men, I want to give my most heartfelt thanks.

Ruth Gibson

South Portland