Drivers along the A25 were horrified to see an elderly woman walking on the hard shoulder with the aid of a zimmer frame.
One “broke the law” to call police who quickly sent out a patrol car.
Miraculously, the 77-year-old was located in one piece and surprisingly unperturbed.
She told agents that she was on her way “to Intermarché for coffee” - but Intermarché was kilometres in the opposite direction, and the elderly woman appears to have been walking for six hours.
What has been explained as a “momentary loss of consciousness” has now seen GNR cops Mário Monteiro and Francisco Rocha, from Albergaria-a-Velha, hailed as heroes.
As both pointed out, the elderly lady could so easily have fallen or been hit by a passing car.
Indeed, her very presence on the hard shoulder - particularly with a zimmer frame - compromised road safety, said Rocha.
But the boys in blue were not expecting too much praise. “It’s all in a day’s work,” they said.
Meantime, the elderly woman’s family have thanked police, explaining none of them had any idea of their family member’s misguided quest for coffee. The woman’s daughter thought her mother was with her granddaughter, and vice-versa.
This news story was reproduced with kind permission of the Algarve Resident. For more news, see: www.portugalresident.com.
