Disabled East Ham pensioner seeks strangers who helped her after fall

Valerie Wood's scooter (Image: Archant)

Valerie Wood, 72, was out shopping on her mobility scooter in High Street North, East Ham around 3pm yesterday afternoon when she fell off a kerb near Natwest bank.

She was left stranded in the road until an old South Asian man wearing a “greyish turban” came to her aid.

“There were people standing around and just looking on but an old gentleman came over and said, ‘Are you okay? I’ll lift you up’.

“Now, I weigh 12st – I’m very heavy – so I said, ‘No, no – you couldn’t do that’.”

Valerie, who suffers from COPD, said the man then went away for a few moments before returning with three other elderly men who proceeded to lift her up “just like young blokes would”.

While she was still in the road, Valerie said, a bus driver began shouting at her to leave the road so he could get past.

“The men helping me gave the driver some stick for that,” she said. “They were so keen to help.”

After being taken to a bench by the men, Valerie said a young woman wearing a black headscarf then sat by her while she waited for her husband and son to pick her up.

“She kept asking if I was okay and if I wanted some tea,” Valerie said. “And the old man who first came over was making sure my purse was closed and that nothing was stolen, and he kept an eye on my scooter.”

Valerie said she was left “battered” and “black and blue” after the fall but will “get by” – so now all she wants to do is find the people that helped her.

“I’m just so appreciative for what they did,” she said. “It’s not often you get that these days, is it?

“They just disappeared into the crowd after helping so I didn’t get the chance to say thank you.

“It was really nice of them.”

Did you witness Valerie Wood’s fall? If you did, and you know anyone involved in helping her, get in touch by calling 0208 477 3778 or emailing iain.burns@archant.co.uk