I recently had the misfortune of being taken ill whilst driving on the A303 and subsequently admitted to Salisbury District Hospital.

Not having had a hospital stay for over 30 years, and not being local to the area, I was apprehensive. I needn’t have been.

As an in-patient of the hospital, a fully dedicated professional team took care of my every need.

The care was simply beyond reproach. So to every single member of staff who had contact with me on Durrington ward, a huge thank you. But this letter is mainly an attempt to trace the Good Samaritans who selflessly helped an acutely sick woman on the A303 (near Chicklade) on Saturday, December 6 at approximately 4pm.

If any of you happen to read this, please give your details to the editor, so I can thank you in a more tangible way.

In particular, I would like to thank the lorry/van driver who was driving north at the time, and turned his vehicle south to offer help. Also, the smiley-faced local farmer (near Chicklade) who sorted out making my car safe and promised to keep an eye on it. (He did a great job because my car was safely in the same place four days later, despite being full of expensive Xmas presents.) Above all, I wish to thank the husky-voiced lady (en route to Devon I think) who held my hand the whole time, whilst liaising with the emergency services, until the ambulance arrived.

These people didn’t know me and we’ll probably never meet again.

If I met them, they would no doubt be modest and say they were only doing what anyone would do. Not so. Most cars drove past at 70mph, either oblivious to my plight, or assuming someone else would sort it.

To these people I would say next time it could be you lying ill on a dirty, litter-strewn grass verge and you will be relying on the kindness of strangers to do the right thing and stop.

With my own family members scattered far and wide, it is especially poignant that in my hour of need complete strangers took time out of their own busy lives to stop and care.

Barbra Williams-Key Langport, Somerset