cyclist

Wanted: sweet lady

It is in the smallest corners of the newspaper that you sometimes find the most beautiful stories. Such as this ad: “Wanted: sweet lady who helped a woman with a bicycle who had an accident.”

It was a vague advertisement in the Miscellaneous section of this newspaper. Few words, and yet there is one telling adjective. “Wanted: Dear lady who helped a woman with a bicycle who had an accident, on 19/01/24 at 8 o’clock in the morning, near Ghent St.-Pieters station.” In these types of sections you often suspect stories of life. Also with this one. For an unknown person to be addressed as dear, a lot must have already happened.

The telephone number in the ad leads to Lieve V. (69), a woman with a Ghent accent. She does not want to reveal her full name because she is afraid that acquaintances and relatives to whom she has not told anything would become concerned. “But now I’m completely fine,” she laughs. She does not want to reveal much further information. “I don’t want to attract any jokers, you know?” Anyone who reports must be able to fill in the details themselves, so that she knows that she has the right person on the line.

Bike preserved

What has happened? “Very simple. I was standing with my bike at a red traffic light waiting to cross and suddenly there was nothing left. I lost consciousness. An unknown woman then took care of me. She kept talking to me until the ambulance arrived. That felt very reassuring. I thought it was special that she did that. Most people would have just kept driving or getting on, right? Everyone always has somewhere to go. So I really want to thank her.” Does she do that often, posting those wonderfully old-fashioned ads? “No. This is the first time.”

“I had a lot of bruises,” she says, “From top to bottom, I was completely bruised. But the absurd thing was that I was on my way to the hospital that morning. I had an appointment with the pulmonologist. So I did end up in the hospital that day, but in a different department.” (laughs)

“But there were actually two fairies that day,” she says, “after all, my bicycle was still there. When the ambulance came, another woman gave me her card. She offered to leave my bike in the secure parking garage of her apartment block. It was a beautiful electric bicycle that I was very attached to. We have been in contact in the meantime. However, that part of the story did end on a downer. When I went to get the bike, it turned out to be stolen. That was painful for me, but also for the residents. In fifteen years, nothing like this had ever happened in that building. Suddenly they felt less safe.”

But hey, what sticks is the positive feeling of the double help she received. And hence the search for that one woman. We would also like to know how things will turn out, so we are helping to find out. Are you the woman in question or do you know her? Mail us!