Good Samaritans are all around us. That’s a lesson I learned last month as I was driving through Martin County on my way to a church gathering in Louisville.

I had just finished talking to my daughter, telling her it was beginning to rain (yes, I know I shouldn’t be using the cell phone when I’m driving), when my story begins.

I had passed through Shoals and turned south on SR 150. I was about five miles out of town when I drove around a curve (well within the speed limit) and my trusty Buick began to slide. Not being used to a car sliding around curves I tried hitting the brakes which only made it slide more and soon I was off the road sitting on a slant in a ditch.

After checking to be sure I was physically OK, I restarted the car and it also appeared to be running as well as a 10-year-old vehicle with 205,000 miles can be expected to run. Unfortunately, between the rain and the angle of the ditch, the car refused to move as the wheels just kept spinning.

I did the only prudent thing and that was call the sheriff department — the Martin County Sheriff’s Department. This was the second time in the 18 years I’ve lived in Washington that I’ve been involved in an accident in Martin County. The first time was about 15 years ago when we hit a deer on U.S. 50. We were told that there were no deputies available and we should drive to the jail and make a report. Which we did, meeting a very nice dispatcher.

This time I explained about where I was located and they said they would send a deputy. In the meantime a very nice man with a big truck stopped and checked my car. Seeing no damage he said he would pull it out but was afraid he’d damage my car.

After he went on his way, a young couple stopped to make sure I was all right. When I told them a sheriff’s deputy was coming they continued on their way. I decided to call a wrecker company and managed to find a business in Loogootee that said they’d be out to help.

Two other cars stopped to check on me and both drivers went on their way when they learned I was OK and help was coming. Finally a truck with two Martin County EMTs headed to work in French Lick stopped. These nice young men weren’t content to learn I was all right, but contacted the sheriff’s department which still had not arrived. They told the dispatcher they would assist the tow truck driver, so once again I didn’t see a Martin County deputy, but I hear they do exist.

The tow truck arrived and because of the curve and the angle of the car, the EMTs were very helpful in stopping traffic so the tow driver could pull my car onto a county road. The three men all took a good look at the car and tires, pronounced them good to go and (after I paid the tow driver) left me to continue on my way.

The fact that so many had stopped on a rainy Saturday afternoon on a lightly traveled road says a lot for the kind of good hearted people that live in our neck of the woods.

And I can’t say enough for the two young men that stayed with me and assisted in getting the car out of the ditch.

In my business, we so often only hear the bad things that happen. It’s nice to know there are so many people willing to go the extra mile to help a stranger.

n Pat Morrison frequently travels in her car for church functions and to visit her family, mostly without incident. E-mail her at patmorrison@washtimesherald.com