A police officer has come to the rescue after a bride was left stranded on the side of the highway before the ceremony in Northland.
The bride and her bridesmaids were stuck on State Highway 1, at Springs Flat, after the wedding car came to a stop on the way to the venue at Glenbervie eight kilometres away, police said.
“A minute before this I was just saying how great it was to have the wedding as we had to cancel due to Covid restrictions last year,” newlywed Paige Cradock said.
/cloudfront-us-east-1.images.arcpublishing.com/gray/QERJDDZP5VGTJERFMFBO4EPDRY.jpg){kind=small}
Cradock and her partner Scott had just postponed their wedding the year prior in order to buy a house.
“The hood was up and my partner’s uncle was trying to get it started again but it wasn’t going to happen,” she explained.
That’s when Senior Constable Adam Groves drove past as he was returning home from the Hikurangi Christmas parade, where he helped with traffic management.
“Adam drove past and saw us on the side of the road in a pickle,” Cradock said.
“Luckily, he turned the car around and had a chat to my aunty who explained what had happened. He offered to drop me and my bridesmaids off to the wedding.”
Meanwhile, a member of the public who had also stopped took two of the four bridesmaids to the wedding.
“Adam said he was clocking off so we really appreciated his kindness and generosity to be able to take us. It was my first time ever in police car,” she said.
“It’s nice to know the police help out people like me, in need, on the side of the road.”
Groves, a former mechanic, said he stopped to see if he could help after the classic car piqued his interest.
However, the car “was shot” so he “offered to take them and delivered them to the reception”.
There were some surprised looks as the bridal party turned up in the patrol car with the red and blue lights flashing, rather than the yellow Chevrolet.
“It was a case of third time lucky,” Cradock said.
“It’s one for the books and will be a great story to tell my two girls when they are older.”
Kamo Station Sergeant Paul Nicholas called Groves’ actions “typical of Grover going the extra mile”.
“He’s a bloody credit to the community.”
