Thanks & no thanks

No thanks

In 2005 Simon Lindsay (AKA Doddery Old Fart of Rest Area 300m) saved the life of a truckie. But his and his fellow road-workers' rescues of other drivers in trouble on NZ's roads have gone almost entirely unreported.

The truckie had passed out from a reaction to a bee sting. Simon revived him after finding him slumped over the wheel on the roadside. He got the truckie breathing again, his fellow road-workers got onto emergency services and set up a road block to allow a rescue chopper to land on the road. A passing paramedic stopped to help and the local copper also. This was reported in the news as the paramedic and copper reviving the guy.

Simon was not enraged by the lack of mention for himself and his work-mates but it was another instance of their rescue efforts being attributed to others.

Simon and his fellow road-workers get plenty of stick and sod all acknowledgement.


Thanks

There's a small notice taped to the side of the Westpac bank on Blackwall Road Woy Woy. It thanks passer-by for helping the note's author's wife when she needed medical attention there recently.


Thanks



Railway or Council workers laying rows of old tyres to stabilise a dodgy bit of the bank in Woy Woy Inlet.

Without these guys the railway would end up in the bay and the Central Coast would get cut off from Sydney again.

RIP

Shit.

Doddery Old Fart is dead. For real.

Just popped over to his blog, Rest Area 300M, to see what he's been up to since I went away and there was 83 comments on the latest post. Thought my computer was having a fit or something but it was 83 condolences.

Doddery was New Zealand's and the world's only blogging road-worker. His real name was Simon Lindsay and all I've been able to find out so far about his death is that it was "sudden".

Soubriquet of Bench says it best for my money:

"The only consolation is that I understand he died suddenly, without warning, of natural causes.
I hope there's a heaven. And a new entrant... frowning at the road surface... searching around for some tools. Muttering about potholes."

Growabrain has a photo of him here and a memorial of beautiful photos of his area of work has been set up here.

Rest in peace, mate.