logo
'Help me find the heroes who saved my grandad'

'Help me find the heroes who saved my grandad'

BBC News17-07-2025
A man is hoping to track down the strangers who came to the rescue of his grandfather after he fell down an embankment while riding his mobility scooter.Terrance Pringle, 90, was taken to hospital with five broken ribs after the accident happened on Stanley Street in Stalybridge, Tameside, on Tuesday afternoon.Steven Pringle said he had been trying to do a three-point turn when the vehicle got stuck in reverse and dragged him down the slope, pinning him to a fire door on a nearby building.But several kindly passers-by came to former Paratooper's aid, helping him off the scooter and offering a blanket and clothing to act as a pillow until medical help arrived.
Mr Pringle is now appealing for them to come forward so he can personally thank them and "buy them a pint".The 41-year-old, from Hyde, said he was "devastated" and "in bits" when a pedestrian first called him on his grandfather's phone to let him know what had happened.He told told how an older man had spotted the accident and tried to move the scooter but it was too heavy, so he flagged down two young men in a car to help.He said those men then helped to move the scooter off Mr Pringle while one used his jumper to support his head, while another person brought a blanket.
They waited with Mr Pringle until paramedics arrived.Mr Pringle said he wanted to reach out to thank those who had helped but by the time he arrived at the scene they had gone.A message posted on Facebook by Mr Pringle in a bid to try to find them has since been shared hundreds of times."I was very grateful and thankful that people like that still exist in the world," he said.He said he wanted to return the jumper to one of the men who helped and "just to maybe buy him a pint and tell him I'm grateful"."It gave me a bit of a boost that there's still community spirit out there," he said.Mr Pringle said the accident happened while his grandfather was on his way to do some shopping on his scooter, which he affectionately calls his "Harley".He had forgotten his wallet and had been trying to turn around to go back home to get it.His son said he was continuing to recover in hospital and remained there for pain management.
Listen to the best of BBC Radio Manchester on Sounds and follow BBC Manchester on Facebook, X, and Instagram. You can also send story ideas via Whatsapp to 0808 100 2230.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

English police forces loosen fitness test requirements
English police forces loosen fitness test requirements

Times

time28 minutes ago

  • Times

English police forces loosen fitness test requirements

Police forces in England have quietly reduced the difficulty of their fitness tests as a new analysis reveals they are among the easiest in the world. Last year, following pressure from the Police Federation, the National Police Chiefs' Council (NPCC) issued guidance to forces to lower the amount of running required in the annual bleep test. The new standard, which has been taken up by forces including Kent, Surrey, Sussex, Thames Valley and West Yorkshire, eased the requirements from level 5.4 — equivalent to four minutes 22 seconds of light jogging — to level 3.7, equivalent to three minutes and eight seconds of the same. Some forces, such as Surrey police, have also made the change for new applicants.

Is your garden out of control? Don't stress: embrace the chaos
Is your garden out of control? Don't stress: embrace the chaos

The Guardian

time34 minutes ago

  • The Guardian

Is your garden out of control? Don't stress: embrace the chaos

The growing season is at its peak. There have been harvests already and more to come. The boughs of our plum tree bend towards the ground, heaving with fruit, and there are new cucumbers and courgettes swelling with each warm summer day. My season started late, and since the spring equinox I feel as if I've been stumbling while I try to catch up. My crops are being outpaced by the creeping buttercup, couch grass and nettles that sneak under the chicken-wire fence. Self-seeded lemon balm and teasels pop up wherever there's a thumbnail's worth of bare soil. While it's a glorious time in the veg patch, all I seem to feel is overwhelm. While overwhelm is a feeling I know all gardeners experience at some point – whether in the depths of a long, soggy winter, or while watching blight take hold of their tomatoes, or just when contemplating a never-ending to-do list – it isn't something I see people talk about much. Beyond the carefully curated photos and the thoughtfully worded, triumphant captions shared on Instagram, there are other feelings the garden can induce that we growers ought to share more. Right now, it is a major source of frustration for me. Everything is growing so rapidly I've lost sight of what my garden can be – or what, perhaps, it ought to be. Instead of being a place of nature and nurture, joy and thriving, it feels draining and disappointing. But this isn't unusual and there is a gentle, sane way to manage these feelings. Stop. Stop trying to get on top of the weeds, the mess and the endless tasks. Just sit down amid the chaos of your garden at the height of summer and see it for the beauty it holds, not the things it has failed to be. A kind friend said to me recently that 'a messy garden is better than an empty one', and I've been leaning on the truth and reassurance of that statement to hold me steady as the illusion of control slips through my fingers. I'm also reminded of the wise counsel of skilled gardener and friend Andrew Timothy O'Brien, who wrote an entire book, To Stand and Stare, that embodies a gentler way of being with the plants in your garden. He invites us to pay attention to the garden as it expresses itself, embracing what it has to say even when it's not part of our plan, and taking the time to be with the garden instead of relentlessly doing. Sign up to Inside Saturday The only way to get a look behind the scenes of the Saturday magazine. Sign up to get the inside story from our top writers as well as all the must-read articles and columns, delivered to your inbox every weekend. after newsletter promotion We can more intentionally cultivate the relationship with our patches of earth when we ease our grip on what we want our garden to be and meet it where it is. The to-do list will persist, of course, but perhaps we can learn to live with getting less of it done.

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store