A distraught daughter who discovered her father had passed away while she was travelling on the bus to see him was comforted by passengers – and then driven straight to her dad’s bedside.
Lisa Gregory, of Adeyfield, was making her way from her Hemel Hempstead home to the Hospice of St Francis in Northchurch when she received the devastating call from her niece.
“I burst out crying and the lady bus driver asked me if I was OK,” said mum of five Lisa.
“I told her that my dad had died.
“We had got as far as Berkhamsted High Street so she stopped and got me a cup of tea.
“After that she asked the passengers if it was OK for her to do a detour to get me up to the hospice.”
The mystery Little Jim’s bus driver was given the go ahead by caring passengers, who did their best to comfort Lisa, and she arrived at the Northchurch-based hospice just 45 minutes after her father, 74-year-old ex-RAF aircraftman Tony Gregory, had passed away on Friday.
Hospice director Dr Ros Taylor said: “Time together after a loved one has just died is very precious.
“I’m delighted that the bus driver found the compassion to respond to Lisa’s request and go the extra mile, literally, to take the detour to St Francis to support Lisa in her hour of need.”
Now the hospice and The Gazette are hoping to reunite Lisa with the kind-hearted bus driver.
Lisa said: “I would like to say thank you dearly from my heart. I wish to thank her very, very much for what she did to get me to my dad.”
Cancer patient Tony, who lived in Downside, Hemel Hempstead, with his wife of 50 years, was cared for by nurses at the hospice when his health took a turn for the worse.
The grandfather and great grandfather’s funeral will be held at the West Herts Crematorium in Garston on Friday, January 24 at 2.40pm.
Family flowers only are requested but donations can be made to the Hospice of St Francis.