It's the people of Nanaimo that makes this such a special place to live. We really are a city filled Neighbourhood Heroes.

Thanks to Mike Reeves and some of his friends, Chicki Jacques, a recent visitor from Kelowna, would agree wholeheartedly with that statement.

I got the following note from Chicki a few days ago.

My friend, Tuni Rousseau, and I were excited as we left Kelowna with our horses to compete in an endurance ride in Courtney. It was the first time either of us had trailered horses on the ferry.

In the first few hours all went according to schedule. We got to the ferry at 2:30, in plenty of time for the 3:15 ferry to Duke Point. We drove into our designated aisle and got out smiling and feeling very good about our trip to that point.

Shortly thereafter a gentleman came walking up from way back in the line and said, "Ladies, I want to let you know that your back left tire on your truck is very wobbly."

I looked down to find that 4 lug bolts were completely sheared off leaving only four holding the wheel on and they were extremely loose. I went into a state of shock and kept saying, 'I better phone BCAA right away!' Not quite sure what they were going to be able to do about it but, at least, they could tow us out of there. I sure wasn't going to move my vehicle one more foot. Our horses are very precious to us and I did not want to knowingly do them any harm.

Then, out of the mists came our savior, Mike Reeves. He owns a garage in Nanaimo called Top Lite Car Services. He called the garage and got Irwin to order lug nuts and bolts that would fit our truck, tightened the existing lug nuts on the tire and phoned his wife so she could meet us on the other side with his truck.

We crept onto the ferry very slowly and carefully.

The big question was where could we put our horses and ourselves for the night.

"No problem," said Mike as he came to the rescue again. He called his friend, Randy Little, whose mother-in-law owns a small chunk of land close to the garage and made arrangements for us.

When we got off the ferry at Duke Point, Mike's wife, Anna, was waiting for us with their truck and they babysat our ailing vehicle all the way to the acreage, stopping three times for Mike to check to make sure the lug nuts were holding.

Pearl and Patty Little met us when we got to our destination. They helped us get settled and showed us a lovely little grass pasture behind their house.

The next morning at 8:30, I took the truck to Top-Lite Car Services on Old Victoria Road where Irwin took charge and had Randy, who works for Edwards Tire Service, assessed the damage to the rim. Randy was soon able to find a loaner for us and by 12:30 we were on our way to Courtney and the race.

Both Tuni and I cannot thank Mike and his friends enough for all their help. They are true heroes in our eyes.

P.S. Our endurance race in Courtney went very well. We completed 50 miles in 5 hrs and 34 minutes and placed 6th and 7th. The weekend started out to be horrific but, because of those wonderful people, it ended being wonderfully successful. Nice to know there still are AWESOME people out there.

Neighbourhood Heroes are quick to go out of their way to help others.