Scarborough duo help stranded pregnant woman on A165

A heroic duo ran almost a mile in a blizzard to rescue a pregnant woman whose car had skidded into a ditch on route to Scarborough.
Snow heroes Chris Crawford and Gavin OliverSnow heroes Chris Crawford and Gavin Oliver
Snow heroes Chris Crawford and Gavin Oliver

Chris Crawford and Gavin Oliver have been commended as ‘true heroes’ after they came to the aid of 22-year-old Danielle Wiseman - who is 29 weeks pregnant.

In the treacherous conditions on the A165 on Wednesday night, which shut the road for almost 24 hours, Danielle skidded off the road and into a ditch on her way to work in Scarborough.

Snow heroes Chris Crawford and Gavin OliverSnow heroes Chris Crawford and Gavin Oliver
Snow heroes Chris Crawford and Gavin Oliver
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Having called her mum Helen Robson and sister Kelly Cooper, they rushed to her aid but were forced to stop about a mile away.

Kelly, 33, said: “She was quite a bit further up the road but we couldn’t drive any further so we got out on foot.

“That’s when we saw Chris and Gavin and when we told them what happened they didn’t even think twice before they got out of there van and started running to her.”

Battered by snow and wind, visibility was limited but they were able to find Danielle.

Snow heroes Chris Crawford and Gavin OliverSnow heroes Chris Crawford and Gavin Oliver
Snow heroes Chris Crawford and Gavin Oliver
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Chris, who is a manager at Hackness Cleaning, said: “We didn’t really think twice about it, when it’s weather like this you have to stick together and help each other.

“At the end of the day, regardless if she was pregnant or even a woman in those types of conditions you do whatever you can to help.

“When we got to her car you could barely see it, it was covered in snow.

“It only took us about five minutes to push her out and to her that’s such a huge help.”

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Danielle, who lives in Bridlington, had been sat in her car for more than 30 minutes, and apart from an ambulance which was on it’s way to a crash further up the A165, nobody else stopped to check she was uninjured or to offer their help.

Kelly said: “We must have passed 50 cars by foot and nobody offered to help other than these two men.

“We would never have been able to push the car out. I don’t know what we would have done without them. It was a selfless act and they just didn’t even think twice about getting out in the cold to help.”

The pair, who work for Hackness Cleaning, were on their way back to Scarborough when they found Danielle.

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Chris said since Monday they’ve helped push more than 15 cars out of the snow.

After the rescue, Kelly posted on Facebook to track down and thank Chris and Gavin. The post was shared more than 1,800 as their efforts were commended.

Kelly added: “We never expected this kind of response I just wanted to thank them for what they did.”