30/12/2025
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She missed her coach by minutes. A stranger drove her 260 miles to save her Christmas.
In December 2021, seventy-year-old Hilary Spinks stood at the Portsmouth ferry terminal with tears streaming down her face.
She had traveled from her home on the Isle of Wight that morning, crossing the Solent on an early ferry to catch a coach to Halifax, Yorkshire. She was heading to a "turkey and tinsel" Christmas holiday—one of those festive trips she looked forward to every year.
But this one was special. It had already been cancelled twice because of COVID-19. After two years of waiting and disappointment, Hilary was finally going to have her Christmas holiday.
Then she missed the coach.
She had underestimated how long it would take to walk from the ferry terminal to the pickup point. By the time she got there, the coach was gone.
Hilary was devastated. All she could do was turn around and take the ferry back home. She returned to the Wightlink terminal in tears, her holiday slipping away for the third time.
That's when Mark Mitchell noticed her.
Mark was a thirty-five-year-old Wightlink ferry worker—a Leading Rating who had chatted with Hilary during her morning crossing. He'd heard all about her excitement for this trip, how much it meant to her after the COVID cancellations.
Now he saw her crying.
When he found out what had happened, Mark made a decision that would change both their days—and touch the hearts of thousands who later heard the story.
He offered to drive her to Halifax himself.
After his shift ended, Mark went home to the Isle of Wight to pick up his car. Then he drove back to Portsmouth, collected Hilary, and set off on a five-hour journey north to Yorkshire.
He drove her all the way to her hotel in Halifax—260 miles through the December evening.
His round trip was more than 500 miles. And he insisted on paying for the fuel himself.
Hilary couldn't believe it.
"When I got back to Wightlink, they came to see what was wrong," she later recalled. "I told them what had happened and it was then that Mark offered to drive me. I couldn't believe it. It was such a surprise and I just didn't think someone so young would do that for someone of my age."
Mark said his motivation was simple: he thought about his own elderly relatives and how he'd feel if something like this happened to them.
"My heart melted when I heard Hilary had missed out on her holiday as it had already been cancelled twice because of Covid," he explained. "We had chatted about it during the sailing to Portsmouth and I was upset to hear she was going home instead of enjoying herself in Yorkshire. I thought of how my elderly relatives would be disappointed, if it happened to them, and wanted to put things right for her."
The story made headlines across Britain.
Wightlink's Chief Executive Keith Greenfield praised Mark publicly: "I was delighted to hear Mark stepped in to help this customer and pleased the story had a happy ending. Not surprisingly, Mark has won our monthly award for colleagues who go the extra mile to help customers. Although we have many wonderful members of staff, not many have gone quite this far."
For Hilary, the kindness of a stranger turned what could have been her third devastating cancellation into a Christmas she'll never forget.
"Wightlink staff are always good to me," she said, "but what Mark did was amazing. He was so kind and thoughtful and I am very grateful."
Sometimes the best gifts aren't wrapped in paper. Sometimes they're five hours on a dark December road, given freely by someone who simply9 saw a person in need and decided to help.
Mark Mitchell didn't just drive 500 miles that day.
He reminded all of us what kindness really looks like.
~Weird Wonders and Facts
