It's not easy to look up a phone number in a foreign country, especially in a panicked situation. When the tide rolled in and surrounded Italian tourists Oberdan and Patrizia Cosimi on a rocky shore in Devon, England, they could not recall the country's emergency number. But the couple found a receipt in a jacket pocket from a pharmacy they had visited a few days before, which contained a phone number. Despite a poor signal, pharmacy employee Pat Askwith figured out they were in trouble and called the coast guard, who rescued the couple and their dog by helicopter.
The Cosimis later returned to the shop to thank Askwith for going above and beyond for them. Link -via Arbroath
(Image credit: Graham Turner for the Guardian)
She said: "I received the first call at about 4.30pm. The problem was that the gentleman was on a mobile phone and they were right by the water so it kept breaking up.
"They kept saying 'SOS' and telling me that they were stuck on the rocks and the tide was coming up. I wasn't sure if it was a hoax because of their accents and the bad line but then I realised that they really were in trouble.
"It was clear that they were really distressed. I called the coastguard and they were luckily able to track them down and help them to safety."
The Cosimis later returned to the shop to thank Askwith for going above and beyond for them. Link -via Arbroath
(Image credit: Graham Turner for the Guardian)
Sincerely - an English person.