AN amputee who was left stranded after her scooter ran out of battery says she has gained a friend after a social media appeal saw a stranger rush to her aid. 

Helen Chapman, 52, of Saville Street, Walton, was on her way home from Devereux Farm, Kirby-le-Soken, when her mobility scooter came grinding to a halt.

Despite believing she had enough charge to get back, Helen suddenly found herself stuck on a traffic island in the middle of a road near the Aldi supermarket.

With the rain pounding down, the night drawing in, and cars whizzing by, Helen, who usually wears a prosthetic leg, turned to the online community. 

“I thought to myself, how the hell am I going to get the scooter and me home, because there was no way anyone would be able to push me,” she said.

“I was in a little bit of a pickle, I did not have much phone battery left, and it was very wet and windy and nothing like this had happened to me before – I was stranded.”

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With her phone battery dwindling by the second, Helen issued a call to arms on her Facebook page and within minutes a stranger had offered to come to her rescue. 

After 20 minutes of waiting, in which time passing vehicles stopped to see if Helen was OK, selfless Sarah Stratford-Wright turned up.

Helen added: “I put a shout out on my social media news feed and a few minutes later Sarah had called me and said she would find a way to help me get home safe and dry and also get the scooter sorted.

“That 20 minutes felt like forever, but I felt a huge sigh of relief when Sarah and her friend got over to me and I was rescued.

“Knowing I would be wet and cold, she brought a flask of tomato soup and a cheese roll which felt so warm and good. 

“What a way to meet for the first time and I have now gained a friend.”

Not willing to leave the scooter behind, Sarah and her friend wheeled it over to the nearby Aldi, where the manager agreed to place it on charge overnight.

Helen, who recently had a scary fall down a flight of stairs, was then dropped home by her social media Samaritans in shining armour.

“I can honestly describe both of these wonderful people that helped me as earth angels, because they were there when I needed them without hesitation,” she said.

“I will forever be grateful to them and thank goodness for them because otherwise I probably would still be sitting on that island.

“It shows there are still decent, kind, and warm-hearted people in our community and, if more people were like this, then the world would be a better place.”

Helen, who had only acquired the mobility scooter several weeks ago, is now back on the road, having collected the scooter the day after the mishap from the supermarket’s “kind-hearted and helpful” manager.

But has Helen learnt her lesson?

“This will never happen again, as I’m now going to keep it charged after every use,” she said.