MONTHS after the pair first met, social media has brought together an elderly Russell Island man and the police officer who saved his life.
Tom Grace, 76, was on his way to an appointment with a heart doctor at Cleveland in October when he boarded the wrong bus, ending up stranded on Henderson Road.
"He was feeling anxious and concerned to be so far from where he was supposed to be and light-headed and started hitchhiking," daughter Annelise Grace said.
"Little did he know that he was actually having heart failure at the time."
Thanks to a stroke of luck, off-duty police officer Christina Taylor was driving past at the time.
"I saw him on the side of the road and he didn't look very well," she said.
"He looked really distressed so I stopped to check on him.
"I was unsure of what type of person he would be, so I was thinking 'should I be concerned?'
"I know what people are capable of, but I could see that he was genuinely distressed."
Ms Taylor drove Mr Grace to Cleveland, where the two parted ways.
"He still tried to pay me when he got out of the car, but I said pay it forward to someone else," Ms Taylor said.
"That's how it's meant to all work.
"I just drove off and never thought anything of it."
Little did she know that Mr Grace would soon be rushed to the Princess Alexandra Hospital for open heart surgery.
"It all happened so quickly," Mr Grace said.
"Christina came along and started the chain of events that saved my life. I'm a lucky man."
After Mr Grace returned home to recover, he rang around to the local police stations but could not find Ms Taylor.
It was only after Ms Grace made a post on her Facebook page that the pair were reunited.
"After I dropped Tom off I called my mum and said 'I've done my good deed for today'," Ms Taylor said.
"She was the one who saw the post."
Ms Taylor and Mr Grace have spoken on the phone several times and caught up in person for the first time this month.
"(The first phone call) was quite emotional because I didn't realise the impact I was going to have on his life," Ms Taylor said.
"I didn't realise the extent of his health and how much it had helped him.
"It was just meant to be, I guess."
Ms Grace said she was grateful for Ms Taylor's kindness.
"Thank you from the bottom of my heart for saving my dad," she wrote on Facebook.
"He really was worth saving - he's a generous, kind and community minded family man."
