Article Surfing Archive

It's a lovely sunny weekend in the middle of May and you*re off with the family on a day-trip to the coast. You*ve got a four year old girl called Jemma and a young son called Carl who is only sixteen months old. So, you make preparations with your wife and set off. The seaside here we come! Jemma's quite happy with her new picture book and Carl sleeps most of the way.

When you get there, Jemma makes her feelings immediately clear: *the beach!*. So, you buy a couple of buckets and spades, make sure the children have got sun-cream on and head for the beach. What a relaxing time. The kids are busy building sand castles while you sit back and take it all in. A little while later, Jemma spots the donkeys which have just been brought onto the beach, so you take the kids for a donkey ride. They love it!

Some time later you start getting hungry, and the family is ready for a bite to eat. You gather everything, wipe down the children and take a walk into town. You find a little caf* with reasonable prices so you park yourselves for a spot of lunch.

After the meal you all have a wonder around town, and as your partner is doing some window shopping you suddenly slip off the causeway edge. You hear a *crack* and end up on the floor. Thinking the worst, you stay still for a few minutes. You don*t feel any pain straight away so, with your wife's help, you gingerly get to your feet and surprisingly you are able to put your weight on your ankle. *Well, it seems okay* you say, so you carry on walking around. After a while though, the ankle starts to ache and gradually over the next thirty minutes or so, you can*t put any weight on it. It's starting to swell as well.

Now you start to worry. *It might be broken* your wife says. You*re starting to worry about the drive home when someone comes over to help. They call an ambulance for you and you*re taken to the local hospital. After having an x-ray on your ankle, the doctor confirms that there's a broken bone and that there's no way you'll be able to drive. Your thoughts turn to your family and how you can get home.

What a situation to be in, miles from home with your wife and two children and you as the only driver. You*re an RAC member but you*re not sure this constitutes a car breakdown?

Technically it's not, but you remember the friendly RAC Face to Face agent pointing out that the RAC will help if the driver becomes too ill or injured to drive, not just in a car breakdown situation.

So, you call the RAC Rescue Centre and explain the situation, to which the friendly lady responds; *Fine sir, we'll get someone to you as soon as possible*. *We'll send a breakdown recovery vehicle straight away*. *Excellent* you say. *Thanks very much*.

Ten minutes later you get a text message telling you that help is about twenty minutes away. When the vehicle arrives, with your wife's help, you clamber into the cab with the rest of your family. Thirty minutes later your car is loaded onto the breakdown truck and secured. You make it home safely and can*t fault the RAC for an excellent days* work. What a great service.