‘Absolute hero’ farmer thanked for helping rescue north-east couple after car got stuck in snow drift

A north-east woman has thanked an “absolute hero” farmer who rescued her and her firefighter husband after their car got stuck in a snow drift.

Sarah MacRory, 34, and her husband Scott, 33, got stuck on a track near their home in Drumlithie on the outskirts of Stonehaven on Saturday.

Sarah and Scott had to be rescued by a farmer after getting stuck in the snow. And in an unusual turning of the tables, with firefighter Scott more used to rescuing others, the pair had to be saved by a passing farmer, Eddie Johnstone.

Eddie used his tractor to clear the snow and dug the stranded couple’s car out of the snow.

Sarah said: “We’re literally in the middle of nowhere. There’s just one farm track that’s a mile and a half long that takes you to and from where we all stay.

“The track didn’t seem like it was too bad. It was snowy but drivable.

“We were coming down the track and as we turned a corner we just saw this huge drift of snow and by the time we spotted it, we couldn’t even brake to stop us from crashing right into it.

“We just slid into this huge pile of snow and we were stuck. I couldn’t even get the car door open.”

Sarah said their neighbour then came round the corner behind them and also got stuck.

She went on: “Two tractors went past and they had snowploughs and we were screaming and waving and beeping but they didn’t see us.

“Then about 10 minutes later this tractor came back and we managed to flag him down and it was this young local farmer Eddie Johnstone.

“The poor guy was just in a farmer’s boiler suit and he was out digging us out with a spade and then he hooked us up and pulled us down.

“And then he said he’d go and clear that bit so our neighbours and us don’t get stuck.

“It was just awesome. It was so nice of him to stop.

“Out of the goodness of his heart, he stopped and rescued us all.

Sarah said she and her husband have offered to buy Eddie a bottle of something from the local shop since they’re unable to get him a pint in the pub.

She added: “He’s a legend, it was really good of him.

“My husband doesn’t like receiving help, because he’s the one that does all the helping. At work they’re helping everybody because they’re stuck and needing to be rescued, so he’s not used to that, but he was so grateful.

“It was quite funny that the tables were turned and he needed rescuing.”

Meanwhile,  two ambulance crew members spent hours digging snow, pushing cars and directing traffic on Saturday in an effort to get a stretch of the A96 Aberdeen to Inverness road moving through the snow – at the end of a 12-hour nightshift.

Callum Wright, an ambulance technician who works in Huntly, and Dan Marsh, a Dufftown paramedic, were on their way home separately when they encountered traffic at a standstill on the north-east road.

The pair helped get traffic moving after a delivery van was stuck sideways across the road.

Ex-military Callum helped co-ordinate the logistics of moving some cars out the way to allow the snowplough and tractors past, and he and Dan pushed several vehicles free.

Snow drifts also meant that a vaccination clinic in Macduff had to close early as the surrounding roads were affected.

It shut at 5pm on Saturday.

Anyone who had an appointment after that time will be contacted by a member of the vaccination team to get it rebooked.

It came as NHS Grampian reassured people who cannot attend their appointment safely that they can arrange a new time using the contact details on their letter.