Elderly British Tourists Separated On Subway Saved By Kind Bostonian
BOSTON (CBS) -- An elderly couple from London is looking for a heroine whose good deed saved the day when they got separated on the subway.
"Boston was lovely. Everyone was so friendly and helpful," said Marion Woodhouse. "We have been married for 47 years, a long time. Three life sentences," adds her husband Peter with a laugh.
To celebrate their 70th birthdays, they went on holiday to Boston. After a visit to the aquarium, the couple was at the Government Center T station changing trains. No sooner had Marion gotten on, Peter realized the train was going the wrong way.
"So I said, get off now! But whoosh, the door shut," he said. "I'm so slow, I couldn't get off again," Marion said.
Marion has Parkinson's disease, uses a walker and is unsteady on her feet. Peter watched the train carrying Marion disappear.
"She knew where I was, but I don't know where she's going to end up," Peter said. So he decided to stay at Government Center hoping Marion would return.
But she ended up at Lechmere, and waited there to see if Peter followed. "I waited for about four trains and he didn't arrive," Marion remembers.
Neither of them had phones, and Peter was beside himself after train after train came in, and no Marion. "I couldn't leave her on her own. I had to find her."
So Peter went to the next stop, but still no Marion. She had gone out on the street, but couldn't find a cab. She approached a young woman she had never met and asked her where to get a taxi.
"She quickly ordered an Uber cab for me on her phone, but she wouldn't take any money," Marion said. "She said the next time someone needs help in London I have to pass on the help she had given me. I have to help someone else."
The Uber took her to the Park Plaza Hotel where they were staying. Peter arrived there just before her.
"And I said, please ring the police and she's just doing it and Marion walked in at that very moment," Peter said. "Peter thought I was lost forever, but I turned up," Marion said.
Marion knows that the woman who helped her is named Courtney, and hopes one day she'll be able to do more to thank her for her kindness.