On a sunny afternoon, Lesley Bromby ventured from her home in Kirkton-on-Skene to walk to Tesco in Westhill.
It is a regular journey for her which is why it was highly unusual when she had still not returned home by the time her husband Guy got home from work at about 7pm on Friday night.
Concerned, the oil and gas worker and his daughter Elizabet asked around their neighbours and walked her regular haunts.
The police were phoned about an hour and a half later as the mystery deepened.
However, soon after, Mr Bromby received a call from Aberdeen Royal Infirmary who informed him that his wife had fallen and was safe with them, albeit with a few face injuries.
Now, the family would like to thank the Good Samaritan, or Samaritans, who got Mrs Bromby to hospital for treatment.
Injuries
Mr Bromby said: “She went out to Tesco in Westhill and was on her way back, the walk is about two and a half miles.
“She thinks that she tripped over something and knocked herself out, near the Masons Lodge.
“She definitely wasn’t looking as good as she did when I married her, that’s for sure!
“She had lots of bloody marks on her face and eyes.”
“We think that either someone got her to hospital in an ambulance or someone took her there in a vehicle but we have no idea how she got there.”
Mrs Bromby, 64, suffered a concussion and a chipped tooth when she fell and still has no recollection of what happened.
The last thing she remembers is waking up in the hospital, and still has no idea how she got there.
She fell near Masons Lodge, on the A944 about half a mile west of Elrick at about 3.30pm.
Thanks to those who helped
Mr Bromby added: “She just ended up falling and damaged the palms of her hands so she must have known she was going to fall.
“She was concussed but is feeling better now and we know someone helped her to hospital, she did not get by remote control.
“We’d love to thank the mysterious person who helped her and we are most grateful to them, the hospital staff, our neighbours who searched for her and the police who found her when no-one knew where she was.”
The Brombys run their own business, Thinjack in Westhill, and Mr Bromby also offers business support to Bothy 57 in Kirkton of Skene.
When asked if he was scared about his wife being missing, he answered matter-of-factly:
“I was concerned and I did have a look for her in lots of different places but I tend to be calm in situations like this.
“I do lots of mountaineering and have led expeditions in the Arctic so I always stay calm with things like this.”