The Kindness of Strangers

We took the kids to Conwy for fish and chips by the castle and sea. My eldest likes lifeboats. Because she has Williams Syndrome, she becomes obsessed with certain noises and the alarm which triggers every new story on BBC2’s “Saving Lives at Sea” is something that has drawn her towards an obsession with the RNLI. I’m encouraging it because it’s age appropriate, we can watch it together and it’s good to see her attention span locked into short stories about big things.

Anyway, today we walked towards the Lifeboat station in Conwy. It was all locked up, but there was a contactless chip and pin machine in the window set to take £3 from each passer by who was willing to donate. My daughter got her bank card out and donated her money. We looked in the window at the toys and seaside nicknacks. We came away and I caught the eye of a man in a car parked next to the lifeboat station. We smiled at each other.

I thought nothing more of it, but then 2 minutes later I heard running footsteps behind me. “Excuse me!” panted the man I’d seen in his car. “I overheard your daughter say that Saving Lives at Sea was her favourite programme, and I saw her donate her money. I’d closed the lifeboat station just now. I’m one of the lifeboat crew, and I thought your kids might like these, so I went back into the station to get them.” He handed the children a couple of waterproof mobile phone covers. My eldest beamed from ear to ear. Her day made. Absolute hero.

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